Despite dominating time of possession and nearly every other offensive category, the Tennessee Titans became the latest victim of the Pittsburgh Steelers' penchant for late-game heroics in last week's game. Of course, the Titans turned the ball over a staggering and unacceptable four times and were hurt by another injury to Julio Jones, not to mention a ticky-tack roughing-the-passer penalty on Jeffrey Simmons at a critical moment in the comeback.
A win, which looked all but certain after a dominating first half, would have put the Two-Toners in the catbird seat for the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Instead, the loss dropped the team down to third in the conference and allowed the Indianapolis Colts, who smacked around New England, to crawl ever closer to the division lead — something that seemed unfathomable three weeks ago.
The short week — never really a pleasant undertaking, particularly this late in the season — does give the Titans a chance to realign themselves fairly quickly. The San Francisco 49ers come to town at a perfectly respectable 8-6, but sit two games back of the surprising Arizona Cardinals (who, lol, lost to the Lions as the Titans were bungling around the Steel City; things could always be worse!) and the Los Angeles Rams. The Niners are holding down the second wild card in the NFC, but with three teams at 7-7, a win would ease some tension.
Jimmy Garoppolo is having a pretty good year under center with 18 touchdown passes against just eight picks. Deebo Samuel is over 1,000 yards receiving, and Greg Kittle continues to be one of the league's best tight ends.
The bookmakers like the Niners, who are giving three to the home team. Given the Titans' recent troubles, it's hard to argue.
The game kicks off at 7:20 p.m. from Nissan Stadium on the NFL Network and Fox 17. Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olson are on the call.
