Preview: Green Bay @ Tennessee - Nov. 2, 2008
By Mike Wynn Sports
The Tennessee Titans may have silenced some of the critics with an impressive come from behind win over Indianapolis Monday night. Titans remain the only unbeaten team in the league at 7-0, but they’ll have test on their hands here Sunday when the Packers come to town. Green Bay is also coming off a win over Indianapolis in week 7 and they manhandled the Colts in a 34-14 win at Lambeau Field. Packers played their best game of the year in that win and they should be a well prepared team having the bye week to get ready for the Titans Sunday. So let’s take a closer look at both these squads and we’ll start with the visiting Packers.
Green Bay Packers have to be pretty pleased with the position of their team right now. The Packers are 4-3 on the season and they’re coming off arguably their best two games of the season, winning at Seattle and at home over Indianapolis. Packer fans have to be pleased with Aaron Rogers and the job he’s doing. Rogers had to endure the Favre fiasco in the off-season and pre-season, and all he’s done is be terrific. Rogers has completed 65.6% of his passes this season and his 12 to 4 touchdown to interception ratio stacks with most anybody in the league. In the running game Ryan Grant has started the season slowly being injured coming into the season, but he’s been improving and should be 100% for this one coming off a bye week. Grant is the workhorse out of the backfield for the Pack with 464 yards on the season, but his 3.4 yards per carry is way down from last years 5.1. WR Greg Jennings has become Rogers favorite target in the passing game. Jennings 37 catches and 4 touchdowns leads all Packer receivers this season and he’s terrific in getting yards after the catch. On the defensive side of the ball the Packers will be tested against the Tennessee rushing attack. Green Bay defense only ranks as number 25 in the league against the run, but they’re solid against the pass ranking number 6. Green Bay will have to find a way to get Tennessee is into some third and long situations and take advantage of their defensive strength.
Tennessee Titans remain the only unbeaten, but I don’t think the 72 Dolphins are too worried at this point. Jeff Fisher has a blue-collar team that plays great defensive and controls the clock with the smash mouth running game. Tennessee Titans won’t blow many teams out but they won’t be blown out either. Tennessee leads the AFC in rushing at 144 yards per game on the ground, but the passing game is only ranked number 15. Tennessee QB Kerry Collins isn’t asked to do a whole lot offensively, but he showed Monday night that he can make the throws and led Tennessee to the win over the Colts. Collins numbers aren’t very good as he’s completed 58.2% of his passes and has 3 thrown interceptions to just 3 touchdowns this year. Titans prefer to get it done in the trenches where they run behind a big offensive line. Chris Johnson & LenDale White are both having nice seasons. Johnson averaging 5.1 yards per carry leads the team in rushing with 626 yards on the ground, while LenDale White is the man at the goal line leading the league in rushing touchdowns with 10. In the passing game the Titans rarely go deep and tend to throw to the tight ends Bo Scaife & Alge Crumpler. Scaife leads the team in catches and receiving yardage this season and has 1 of just 4 receiving touchdowns this season. Tennessee obviously not built to outscore opponents but they’re built to play terrific defense. Tennessee gives up just 90 yards a game on the ground and just 185 yards per game through the air, and kicker Rob Bironis has one the best legs in the NFL. Play great defense, have a great kicker, and controlling the clock with a strong running game is Jeff Fisher’s recipe for success and it’s working so far this season for the Titans.
Taking a look at the trends and angles for this one, both teams are certainly go withs right now. Tennessee is 7-0 straight up and ATS this season while the Packers are riding a 17-7 ATS run over the last couple of seasons. Green Bay also 14-5 ATS in all road games the last 3 seasons while Tennessee is a solid 29-14 ATS versus non-conference opponents since 1992. I can’t find a good reason to take a side in this one Sunday so we’ll focus on the total and advise an over play Sunday. Green Bay 12-4 over the total the last 3 seasons including 4-1 over as a road dog of 3½-7 points. Tennessee with their defense a surprising 3-1 over the total this year at home and they’re a huge 30-15 over versus non-conference foes since 1992 including 10-3 over versus the NFC North. Take this one over the total of 42 points Sunday.