Injuries to Julio Jones, A.J. Brown barely affect New York Jets-Tennessee Titans spread
While the Tennessee Titans’ losses of star receivers Julio Jones and A.J. Brown have New York Jets fans feeling a newfound level of hope for Sunday’s MetLife Stadium clash, the oddsmakers in Vegas don’t seem to think the two injuries close the gap all that much.
Tennessee (2-1) opened as 7.5-point road favorites over the Jets (0-3). Following the announcement that Jones and Brown will miss the game, the Titans’ edge has slimmed, but they remain 6-point favorites, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
That makes Tennessee the third-largest road favorites of Week 4 as of Saturday afternoon, trailing only Kansas City (-7 at Philadelphia) and Tampa Bay (-7 at New England).
Tennessee played two games without Brown in 2020 and won both, defeating the Jaguars and Vikings while eclipsing 30 points in both games.
The Titans own a 24-19-1 edge over the Jets in the all-time series. Since the team moved from Houston to Tennessee in 1997, the Jets have a 7-4 advantage. The Jets have won all three of their home games against Tennessee since their 1997 move.
Mike Vrabel’s Titans have run the ball well with Derrick Henry but are struggling to get going in the other aspects of the game. Tennessee ranks sixth in yards per rush attempt (4.8) but 22nd in net yards per pass attempt (5.9), 25th in net yards per pass attempt allowed (7.3), and 20th in yards per rush attempt allowed (4.3).
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Turnovers have also been an issue for the Titans, who own a minus-6 differential in that category with seven turnovers and one takeaway. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill already has six turnovers in three games after giving the ball away eight times over 16 starts in 2020.
The Jets have been the most anemic offense in football, ranking 32nd with 6.7 points per game. They are ranked 17th in yards per rush attempt (3.9) but 30th in net yards per pass attempt (4.3) while placing second-worst in the league with seven turnovers.
Defensively, the Jets have played well. Jeff Ulbrich‘s unit ranks 14th in scoring defense with 23.3 points allowed per game.
New York’s defense ranks 17th in net yards per pass attempt allowed (6.8) and 11th in yards per rush attempt allowed (3.8). The unit has been fantastic situationally, ranking first in the red zone (33.3% touchdown rate) and fourth-best on third down (29.7% conversion rate).
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