Titans vs. Jaguars prediction: Jacksonville is poised for blowout victory

Fifty-one days.

That’s how long it has been since the Tennessee Titans last walked off the field victorious or even covered a point spread.

Since going to Green Bay and dominating the Packers 27-17 as a 3-point underdog in the Week 11 Thursday night game on Nov. 27, Tennessee has lost six straight games while going 0-5-1 ATS.

Now the Titans have one last opportunity to right the ship and save their season when they visit the streaking Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday night.

The storyline for Titans vs. Jaguars contains zero mystery: The winner claims the AFC South title and will host a wild-card playoff game next week. The loser will head home without so much as a thanks-for-playing parting gift.

The betting market firmly believes that loser will be Tennessee, as Jacksonville is giving up nearly a touchdown. We can’t help but agree, as our Titans vs. Jaguars prediction is focused squarely on the red-hot home favorite.

Odds updated as of 2:30 p.m. ET on Jan. 6.

Quick flashback: Jacksonville kicked off December with a horrific 40-14 loss to the Lions in Detroit. That dropped the Jaguars’ record to 4-8.

And even though Tennessee was coming off its own ugly defeat (35-10 at Philadelphia), the Titans still had a three-game lead over Jacksonville in the AFC South.

Then came the following week: The Jags traveled to Tennessee and quickly fell behind 14-7 before turning on the afterburners and rolling to a 36-22 victory. And they haven’t slowed down since.

After rallying past the Cowboys 40-34 in overtime at home in Week 15, Jacksonville hit the road and dusted the Jets and Texans by a combined score of 50-6.

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With Sunday’s 31-3 rout of Houston — coupled with Tennessee’s 27-13 home loss to Dallas three days earlier — the Jags (8-8, 7-8-1 ATS) officially zoomed past the Titans (7-9, 8-6-2 ATS) in the AFC South standings.

However, Jacksonville’s one-game advantage is irrelevant. If the Titans spring the upset and pull into a first-place tie, they’ll claim the division based on a tiebreaker.

Given the way these squads are going right now, it seems quite unlikely that such a tiebreaker will come into play.

Just looking at the last four weeks, the Jags have outgained their opponents by an aggregate of 368 yards. Tennessee, meanwhile, has been outgained by 202 yards in its last four games — and by 474 yards during its six-game slide.

Adding injury to insult, the Titans are all kinds of banged up. Three defensive starters (including half the secondary) are questionable with injuries. So, too, is the team’s right tackle.

Star running back Derrick Henry (hip) will suit up, but he’s going to have to be extra superhuman for Tennessee to win. That’s because the man lining up directly in front of him will be third-string quaterback Joshua Dobbs, who made his first NFL start last Thursday against Dallas — just eight days after he was snatched off Detroit’s practice squad.

Dobbs is starting in place of rookie Malik Willis, who had been starting in place of veteran Ryan Tannehill. Tannehill is still dealing with an ankle injury; Willis is still dealing with NFL rookie-itis (read: He stinks.).

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Dobbs was revealed as the starter against the Cowboys some six hours before kickoff. Considering the situation — including the fact that Henry and nearly 10 other Titans starters sat out — Dobbs performed adequately against the Cowboys. He went 20-for-39 for 232 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

But there’s a reason the 2017 fourth-round pick from Tennessee has only appeared in seven NFL games in six pro seasons.

Moreover, Dobbs had absolutely zero pressure on his shoulders last week because the game was completely meaningless for the Titans. That ain’t the case this week: Dobbs needs to deliver — on the road, no less — or his new team’s season is over.

Given the fact that Jacksonville continues to field the NFL’s 28th-ranked pass defense, it’s tempting to suggest that Dobbs could come through Saturday night. Then you look at what the Jags’ defense did to the quartet of quarterbacks they faced the last two weeks.

The Jets’ Zach Wilson and Chris Streveler and Houston’s Davis Mills and Jeff Driskel combined to go 44-for-77 for 384 yards with no touchdowns and one interception.

Those numbers look even worse considering both the Jets and Texans fell behind early and were forced to pass against soft coverage schemes.

Honestly, if the Titans — who have averaged 12.7 points during their seven-game slump — win this game behind a raw quarterback who barely knows the offense, it will go down as one of the season’s biggest upsets.

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So the question becomes: Can Henry — who had 121 yards and a touchdown against Jacksonville back in Week 14 — carry his team on his broad shoulders once again?

Can he consistently move the chains, shorten the game, bust a big run or two and keep the Titans within striking distance? And can Tennessee’s defense slow down Trevor Lawrence and the freight train that has become the Jags’ offense — one that is averaging 31.5 points the last four weeks?

Our answers to all those questions: Highly doubtful.

Yes, Jacksonville is in the rare situation of being a sizable favorite. Still, we’ll confidently lay the points at BetMGM and look for the Jags to open up a big enough second-half lead to eliminate any possibility of a backdoor cover.

The Inquirer is not an online gambling operator, or a gambling site. We provide this information about sports betting for entertainment purposes only.