It may be the start of new era for the Titans on Monday Night as Will Levis gets the start for Tennessee. I thought he may have been the best QB in the draft last year and he ended up falling to 33 for the Titans. In relief he came on and led them to victory over Atlanta last week. He will try to do what Tennessee hasn’t done yet this year in putting their best performance on the road. While they should have won in New Orleans week 1(17-16 NO), the other games on the road have been the Titans beating themselves. They will face a Steelers defense that presents a lot of problems for most young QBs. The Titans highest scoring road game is 16 thus far.
Trubisky will be the starter for Pittsburgh and it’s been an up and down season so far for the Steelers. They have had several bad games and the one following that bad game thus far has been a victory. The short week here and you would expect them to come in ready as they have had a carousel at QB due to injuries the past few years and no matter who its been they have been ready every time they have shown up on the schedule in primetime. There has been rumbling of firing the OC in Pittsburgh and they have been outscored 113 to 147 for the year. That being the games vs. SF, Houston(QB knocked out), and Jacksonville(QB knocked out) they have been blown out and held under 10 points. The following games after those losses thus far have been wins so we’ll see if that trend continues.
Consensus? It’s presently 46% of the picks bringing in 69% of the cash on the road Titans +2.5. As you know sometimes in the NFL every point makes a difference. The total play 65% on the UNDER 37. I mention every point makes a difference because its the money line where the Steelers plays are going, with 81% laying the -154 money line. Concerning the total play – The Titans scoring 18.9 per game and giving up 20 per game, the Steelers actually only scoring 16 per game giving up 21 per game. Both these right in the area of where that number is set and at 37 there is only the theory that all games are under unless they go over.
This may very well be an ugly game if it stays under like the consensus is picking. On the injury front, of course no Tannehill but also the starting right tackle Hubbard is out. The Steelers get back Hayward on the D-line, but Fitzpatrick is supposed to be out at safety.
What we have here is an unknown commodity in Levis in a hostile environment, now I’ve seen more Levi’s than most and he is a really accurate passer who knows to find Hopkins( who is questionable for tonight). The Steelers have the 3 blowout losses and in those games Mitch Trubisky got in the game and wasn’t very successful. It’ll be interesting to see if both these teams lean on their work horse running backs more than they already do. Maybe Levis becomes the starter for the rest of the season if he pulls off a win tonight as Tannehill has 2 TD and 6 INT. I’m betting on the Steelers to find a way to bounce back here like they always have especially at home in prime time.
My prediction 16-13 Steelers –
310 Steelers/Titans UNDER 37
310 Steelers -2.5