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Jacksonville Jaguars vs Tennessee Titans: prediction, preview, pick to win

By The Sports Xchange
Jacksonville Jaguars QB Blake Bortles threw for 322 yards and five TDs with a 134.5 passer rating when he last faced the Tennessee Titans. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
Jacksonville Jaguars QB Blake Bortles threw for 322 yards and five TDs with a 134.5 passer rating when he last faced the Tennessee Titans. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

GAME SNAPSHOT

KICKOFF: Thursday, 8:30 p.m. ET, Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tenn. TV: NFL Network, Jim Nantz, Phil Simms, Tracy Wolfson.

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SERIES HISTORY: 42nd regular-season meeting. Tennessee leads series, 23-18. The teams have met twice every year since the Jaguars joined the league in 1995. In the 1999-2000 playoffs, Tennessee earned a 33-14 win in the AFC Championship Game to qualify for the franchise's only Super Bowl. Jacksonville has more games, more wins and more losses against the Titans than any other opponent. Since 2004, the teams are 12-12 against each other. During a stretch from 1998-2003, Tennessee dominated the series with 10 wins in 12 games.

GAMEDATE: 10/27/16

KEYS TO THE GAME:

When QB Marcus Mariota is good, he carries the Titans' offense with his running and passing skills. Too often this season, though, Mariota's throws sailed high and wide of the mark. Mariota himself addressed the matter in his media session Tuesday, accepting the blame.

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"It just kind of comes back to me being lazy with my feet. When I'm aggressive and things are moving quick and my feet are in place, I'm a better, more accurate thrower," Mariota said. "When I get lazy and try to throw off my back foot, I tend to miss throws high, and that's what happened in the game."

The Titans beat the Jaguars 42-39 in their 2015 meeting at Nissan Stadium. However, Tennessee isn't really built for such things, as it prefers to run the football with DeMarco Murray, control the clock and pick its spots in the passing game with Mariota

With only one full practice for this game, the Jaguars aren't going to install any new concepts or shift their schemes. That means more of the same, trying to establish a ground game that simply is not there. But coach Gus Bradley admitted that the running game needs some work.

"You keep running it and running it and running it, and then one breaks out like it did in the first half (Sunday)," he said. "We're just not in those situations where we can keep pounding the run and have those opportunities come up."

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That is a concern because right now QB Blake Bortles is not passing the ball well, leaving the offense with little chance for success.

INJURY UPDATES:

Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Jared Odrick and tight end Julius Thomas are listed as questionable to play in Thursday night's game against the Tennessee Titans.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH:

--Tennessee QB Marcus Mariota vs. Jaguars' secondary. The last time these two teams met at Nissan Stadium, they combined to score 41 points in the fourth quarter. Mariota passed for 268 yards and three touchdowns in the game. At the start of this season, he talked about how he feels he has made progress from year one to year two in that he is a lot more comfortable. He is showing that to be the case, as he has passed for 1,604 yards and 12 TDs in the Titans' first seven games. That will be the challenge that the Jaguars' secondary faces. Jacksonville has faced some of the league's elite quarterbacks in Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers, Joe Flacco and Andrew Luck, and for the most part have held them in check. Last week against Oakland, they limited Derek Carr to 200 passing yards, 56 of which came on one long throw. Rookie CB Jalen Ramsey is playing well but will need to be more disciplined after getting ejected from last week's game due to fighting.

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--Jaguars RBs T.J. Yeldon and Chris Ivory vs. Tennessee front seven. It looked as if the Jaguars would be putting up some impressive numbers with their ground game last week after gaining 94 yards in the first half against the Raiders. However, an 11-yard total in the second half left then with a mediocre 105-yard effort, 42 of which came on an Ivory breakaway down the sideline. It was a disappointing total as Oakland came into the game with one of the league's lower-ranked defenses against the run. Yeldon and Ivory will get another chance for redemption against a Tennessee front seven that has allowed just over 85 yards a game on the ground. The Titans are getting good help from their secondary in the ground game. LB Avery Williamson is a distant leader in team tackles with the next three players all from the secondary. LB Brian Orakpo has been effective on the blitz with a team-best seven sacks thus far, four more than the second-best total of defensive end Jurrell Casey. Casey is coming off a Pro Bowl season and is one of the anchors of the defense.

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT:

Jags DT Malik Jackson. With the loss of NT Roy Miller for the rest of the season to an Achilles injury, more pressure will be on Jackson lead the charge from his spot in the middle of the D-line. As if Jackson needed more pressure following Sunday's game when he was ejected following a pair of unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties for abusive language to game officials. He said after the game, "I learned my lesson. I've got to do better for the team and grow up a little bit. Can't make mistakes like that." But when asked if he apologized to his teammates or planned to prior to Thursday's game with Tennessee, Jackson said, "I'll apologize Thursday when I go out there and play my hardest and give all for the team." That puts Jackson on the spot. If he doesn't have a standout game, does it mean he's not apologizing to his teammates? And without Miller in the lineup, look for the Titans to keep a watchful eye on Jackson, including a lot of double-teaming.

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FAST FACTS:

Jags WR Allen Robison caught 10 passes for 153 yards and three touchdowns in the last meeting. He is looking for a third 100-yard game in a row.

Jacksonville WR Marqise Lee totaled 107 yards receiving last week, and he leads team with 337 receiving yards.

Jaguars TE Julius Thomas (Q) caught a TD pass in four of his past five games vs. division foes.

Jacksonville rookie DE Yannick Ngakoue is tied for the lead among NFL rookies with four sacks.

The Jags' 554 penalty yards are the most in the league.

Titans QB Marcus Mariota rushed for career-high 112 yards (one for 87) while throwing for three touchdowns and producing a 118.2 passer rating in his last game vs. the Jags. In his past three games, he has eight passing touchdowns and one interception with a 113.1 passer rating.

Tennessee RB DeMarco Murray has 603 yards from scrimmage (502 rushing, 101 receiving) and five TDs in his last five games. Since 2013, he leads the NFL with 33 rushing TDs, and his 4,301 rushing yards rank second over same period.

PREDICTION:

Jags QB Blake Bortles threw for 322 yards and five TDs with a 134.5 passer rating when these teams last met. But that was then, and now Bortles enters this game with nine TDs, nine interceptions and a 76.4 passer rating. Titans QB Marcus Mariota has looked excellent at times this year, and this could be another one of those times.

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OUR PICK: Titans, 25-21.

--Frank Cooney.

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