The Tennessee Titans will host the Arizona Cardinals this Sunday in week one of the NFL regular season. The Cardinals won 12-7 when these two last played during the 2017 season.
The Cardinals will be hoping for a big step forward in Kyler Murray’s third season. Murray finished There is a plethora of holdover talent around him, including new additions A.J. Green and rookie Rondale Moore. If Green can return to a form with a new offense and Moore can carve out a niche, the sky is the limit for this offense. On defense they are hoping that first round pick Zaven Collins can help bolster a front seven that ranked fourth in the NFL with 48 sacks a year ago. With J.J. Watt also on the roster, this defense is going to give QB’s fits all year. The only question is if they can stay relatively healthy.
The Titans replaced free agent casualty Corey Davis with future hall-of-famer Julio Jones, with the hopes they can get similar production out of him as the number two receiver opposite A.J. Brown. 2020 was an injury laden campaign for Jones, but if healthy he was on pace for his seventh-straight 1,000-yard season so the talent is still there. Derrick Henry, Ryan Tannehill and most of their O-line will return, so this offense has the potential to be one of the league’s best after finishing 4th with 30.7 points per game in 2020. On defense they are hoping that rookie Caleb Farley can step up and contribute in year one. They ranked 28th in the NFL with 277.4 passing yards allowed per game in 2020.
Arizona is 4-6 ATS in their last 10 games, 5-5 on the money line, and the under is 5-5.
Tennessee is 5-5 ATS in their last 10 games, 6-4 on the money line, and the over is 8-2.
The Titans will have new starters at WR2 and TE from a season ago, so it may take Ryan Tannehill some time to get acclimated in this new look offense. Derrick Henry will provide much-needed stability at the running back position, but the Cardinal’s have a front seven capable of slowing him down. Arizona’s offense has a clearer path to success against a porous Tennessee secondary. Look for the Cardinals to get it done and cover on the road.