Jacksonville vs Tennessee: The Titans can’t afford to stumble

Jacksonville, with rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence, has yet to win. The Jaguars will play their next game at home against Tennessee. Will they be able to break their losing streak? Let's pick a few options to bet on.

Teams that get a rookie quarterback, even if it is the No.1 pick in the draft like Trevor Lawrence, usually have a weak start to the season. Think at least of last year's Cincinnati and Joe Burrow's first championship. Back then, it took the No.1 pick four weeks to get his first win and then another four weeks to win a second time.

The Jaguars have been winless for 4 weeks exactly. The opponents of Urban Meyer's team have been Houston, Denver, Arizona, and the same Cincinnati. In Week 4, however, Jacksonville was already looking good. They led for a long time against Cincinnati and lost only after conceding a field goal in the end. Is Trevor Lawrence's first win close? The young quarterback has 873 yards per pass and 5 touchdowns with 7 interceptions already.

The Titans approach the game against Jacksonville with a 2-2 balance. Mike Vrabel’s team lost in a blowout to Arizona in Week 1. Then they had two wins, over Seattle in overtime and Indianapolis. But in Week 4 they lost again, in an away game against not the strongest New York Jets. 24:27 (24-24) - an overtime loss.

Such an unstable game at the start of the season looks nothing like the way one of the most stable teams has played in recent years. Ryan Tannehill's form is especially questionable. The quarterback has only 5 touchdowns in 4 games and 3 interceptions. Perhaps the change in offensive coordinator had that effect on the playmaker. On the eve of the season, Arthur Smith left the Titans to coach Atlanta, and former tight ends coach Todd Downing took over as offensive coordinator.

Tenessee beat Jacksonville in 7 of the last 8 matches.

After losing to the Jets, Tennessee can't afford to stumble in a game against another outsider, also a division rival. The class of the teams is vastly different at this point, no matter what strange things are happening to at the Titans right now. So we shouldn't expect a sensation here.

Prediction: Tennessee will win.

Betting options:

• Handicap 2 (-3.5) for 1.69;
• Individual Total 2 Over (26.5) for 1.86.