The Tennessee Titans and Atlanta Falcons face off Friday in a preseason NFL showdown at Mercedes Benz Stadium. One storyline heading into this game will be Julio Jones joining the Titans after spending his entire career with the Falcons.
Even though the storylines will be about Julio Jones, he is hurt, and won’t play much in the preseason. Starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill probably won’t play this game which means it will be the backup quarterback battle that will be heated. Logan Woodside and Matt Barkley will be given plenty of run in this game. Barkley was just signed a few days ago, so it wouldn’t be shocking to see Woodside get more of the run in this game. On defense, there aren’t a whole lot of questions surrounding this team, but it will be a good chance to look at Caleb Farley who was drafted in the first round. One other big battle to watch in this game is at kicker with Tucker McCann and Sam Ficken going head to head.
On the other side of this matchup is the Atlanta Falcons who have had big coaching changes this offseason with Arthur Smith taking over as the head coach. Quarterback Matt Ryan might play a little in this game, but there should be a whole lot more playing time for A.J. McCarron and Feleipe Franks. Franks right now is the 3rd quarterback on the depth chart, but with a good preseason, maybe he could win the backup job. On defense, there are a ton of questions, but some of the young guys have a good chance to earn plenty of playing time this season. One person to take a close look at is Ta'Quon Graham who was selected in the 5th round and could play a big role on the defensive line.
The Titans are 1-4 against the spread in their last five games as a road favorite. The Falcons are 12-5 against the spread in their last 17 games as a home underdog. The over is 22-7-1 in Titans last 30 games overall.The under is 4-0 in the last four meetings played between the two teams.
The Titans are a more talented team, and they are also a deeper team, something that is going to help them in this game. Back the Titans to come away with a cover of the spread. In terms of the total, the play is with the under.