Just enough
Over next three weeks, we might get a much clearer picture on who's going to take the AFC South division. Why am I saying that? Well, because Tennessee and Indianapolis are going to meet twice in that period and they are currently in 1st and 2nd place, with a healthy margin from Houston and Jacksonville. But these two teams are entering this week with different feelings, considering the results from last week.
Tennessee can be happy with the result, but not so much with their performance. Especially on the offense. Chicago's defense held Derrick Henry to measly 68 yards on the ground. If we disregard that breakout run in the last quarter, he was held to 2.1 yards per carry on the rest of his 20 carries in that game. Tannehill also didn't have the best day with only 10 completed passes and below 50% completion percentage. But he managed to keep the ball safe and not turn it over. With help of the defense and special teams, it was just enough to edge out the Bears.
Looking for a new TY
Indianapolis also had a mediocre (at best) offensive performance, but unfortunately for them, they played Baltimore that didn't let that go unpunished. It is expected TY Hilton will return tonight, but honestly, I doubt he can raise the level of this offense on a higher level. The old TY would do that immediately, but it's a fact that he simply didn't click with Philipp Rivers for some reason. Averaging 3 catches and 36 yards per game is simply not what we're used from him. Another factor was definitely an injury, which will always have a negative affect on a receiver that relies on his speed a lot.
Hilton not playing on his usual level is not the only problem at skill positions. The roles seem to be undivided. They have a bunch of bodies at the receiver position, but no real go-to guy. Rookie Michael Pittman is showing some promise that he could be just that. He was injured for some time, but he is coming off of a solid performance against Ravens solid secondary. He's one of those size/speed specimens that Rivers loved so much back when he wore the Chargers' uniform
Titans vs Colts betting tips
Another position with a lot of confusion is tight-end. They've got three solid players, but we can only guess which one will have a bigger role on a given night. Doyle is out for tonight, so it will come down to Mo-Alie Cox and Trey Burton. Both are used often in red-zone. Alie-Cox because of his size and catch radius, Burton because of his versatility. They can use him in many different ways, even as a QB in wildcat formation, which we already saw in past weeks.
At running back, the 2nd round rookie had an wide open path to secure a bell-cow role after Marlon Mack got injured in week 1. Failed to do so. After fumbling during an important drive last week, he seemingly found himself in the Frank Reich's doghouse. They credited it to a negative script and only 6 total carries in the second half, but stats are saying differently. Jordan Wilkins out-touched him the last two weeks and I expect an increased role for him tonight as well. I know that Reich is a good coach and will not glue his rookie to the bench after a mistake, because it will probably be counterproductive. He'll have his share of carries, but I doubt he can hope for more than a 50-50 split.
