LP Field – Nashville, TN
Kickoff: Thursday, 8:25 p.m. ET
Line: Tennessee -3.5, Total: 45.5

Each coming off of home losses, the Jaguars and Titans play on a short week. Who can get their act together first?

The Jaguars suffered a major setback on Sunday, losing 33-16 at home to the Raiders (OAK +2) after having won two consecutive games on the road. Jacksonville is now 2-4 on the season (2-3-1 ATS) and sits alone in the basement of the AFC South, arguably the worst division in football. The Jags trailed throughout, with the final margin of 17 being their biggest deficit of the day. QB Blake Bortles (59.7 CMP%, 1,567 yards, 9 TDs, 9 INTs) had his worst game of the season—which is saying something—completing 23-of-43 passes for 246 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. The Jags accumulated the exact same amount of total offense as the Raiders (344 yards), but committed three turnovers and forced zero. Jacksonville will meet Tennessee in the Thursday night game this week, and their division rival is in similarly tough circumstances after a 34-26 home loss to Indianapolis (IND +2). Now 3-4 on the year (2-5 ATS), the Titans shared the same record as the Colts in the middle of the division, but now trail by tiebreaker. Like Jacksonville, the Titans were coming off a two-game winning streak before being beaten soundly at home. Colts QB Andrew Luck torched their secondary for his most yards per attempt (9.06) and highest passer rating (123.1) of the season, and the Titans sacked him twice for 12 yards, the least by any of his opponents this year. Insult was added to injury when the Jaguars allowed Raiders punter Marquette King to rush for a first down on fourth-and-24 late in the fourth quarter. Over the last 10 seasons, favorites of 3.5 to 10 points coming off a game where they committed one turnover or fewer (TEN) are 53-22 ATS against teams coming off a game who had a turnover margin of -3 or worse. In the last five seasons, teams are 139-79 Under in the second leg of back-to-back division games (TEN). The Jaguars could be shorthanded on defense without DT Roy Miller and CB Aaron Colvin, both of whom left the game against the Raiders with injuries. For the Titans, LG Quinton Spain and CB Perrish Cox both were carted off the field in the second quarter against the Colts. If Spain’s injury is serious, he’ll be the third Titans offensive lineman to get injured this season.

The season has been a massive disappointment for Bortles after he set franchise records in passing yards and passing touchdowns last season. Florida newspapers this week are going so far as to suggest that the team should no longer consider him their franchise quarterback—or even their current starter. He ranks among the league’s worst in key quarterback statistical categories, as he’s 28th in completion percentage, 27th in yards per attempt (6.64) and 28th in passer rating (76.4) after Sunday’s games. He hasn’t been helped by a precarious situation at running back, where neither T.J. Yeldon (60 carries, 200 yards, TD) nor Chris Ivory (26 carries, 123 yards, TD) have been consistently effective. They were actually good on Sunday, rushing for a combined 72 yards on 11 carries, but didn’t see much action on the ground because the Jags trailed the entire game. Wide receivers Allen Robinson (26 catches, 296 yards, 3 TDs) and Allen Hurns (24 catches, 345 yards, TDs), have seen their production tail off alongside Bortles’ after also having career years last year, but WR Marqise Lee (29 catches, 337 yards) has been a pleasant surprise in his third season. His best game came against the Raiders, as he posted season highs in catches (7), targets (8) and yards (107). All these struggles have come despite good overall play from the offensive line, where C Brandon Linder has been particularly impressive. The defense is a solid ninth in the league after Sunday’s games with 325.2 yards allowed per game, but sits at 26th with 26.7 points allowed per game. LBs Telvin Smith and Paul Posluszny look like one of the better linebacker pairings in the league, and rookie CB Jalen Ramsey has immediately become of the NFL’s best corners. Raiders QB Derek Carr only bothered to throw his way once on Sunday, and the pass was incomplete.

Titans QB Marcus Mariota (61.5 CMP%, 1,604 yards, 12 TDs, 6 INTs) was riding high entering Sunday’s game, as he had completed 69.8 percent of his passes in his previous two games for six touchdowns, and had also rushed for a combined 124 yards and a touchdown in those games. His statline was still decent against Indy—22-of-37 passing, 237 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs—but his 6.27 yards per attempt were his second lowest of the season. He also took three sacks despite rarely facing significant pressure from the Colts pass rush. After Sunday’s games, he’s 23rd in the NFL in completion percentage and 21st with an 89.5 passer rating. He hasn’t wowed in his sophomore campaign, perhaps in part because of the Titans’ run-heavy offense. Then again, the run heavy offense may be in place to account for some of his shortcomings. But it’s hard to deny the fantastic season had thus far by RB DeMarco Murray (139 carries, 633 yards, 5 TDs; 27 catches, 192 yards, 2 TDs), who’s third in the NFL in rushing and ninth among running backs in receiving yards after Sunday’s games. Rookie RB Derrick Henry (37 carries, 161 yards) looked great in the preseason and has done well in limited action spelling Murray. The WR unit has been perhaps the league’s most underwhelming, led by Rishard Matthews (23 catches, 319 yards, 2 TDs) and rookie Tajae Sharpe (24 catches, 248 yards). After missing the first three games of the year, WR Kendall Wright (13 catches, 168 yards, TD) exploded against the Browns in Week 6 but has been nearly silent otherwise. TE Delanie Walker (24 catches, 330 yards, 3 TDs) leads the team in receptions. With 338 yards allowed per game, the Titans defense is 10th in the NFL and 17th with 23 points allowed per game. While the pass rush only sacked Luck twice, they actually put a significant amount of pressure on him. But secondary that has struggled all season failed to pick him off—or stop him at all, really. LB Brian Orakpo is third in the league with 7 sacks.