By Rich Bergeron
If there’s any safe bet in the NFL these days, it would involve not betting on the Redskins or the Titans to make it to the Super Bowl this year. Both teams are having horrible seasons with the 2-4 Titans having the better year despite the 1-5 Redskins being the better team on paper.
Both teams go into this game without their starting quarterbacks in action. Titans QB Jake Locker (65-112, 764 yards, 4 TDs, 4 INTs) will likely miss another week with a thumb injury, so Backup Charlie Whitehurst (42-72, 604 yards, 3 TDs, INT) will get another start. Meanwhile, Redskins QB Kirk Cousins (116-188, 1,571 yards, 10 TDs, 8 INTs) is taking over for an injured Robert Griffin III and having a tough time in the second half so far. All eight of the interceptions thrown by Cousins came in the second half of games this season.
NFL Week 7 match up – Redskins vs Titans
The running game for both teams is also heavily reliant on a top rusher instead of a committee approach. For the Titans, Running Back Shonn Greene (44 carries, 190 yards, TD) is injured, giving way to Rookie Bishop Sankey (50 carries, 211 yards, TD). Neither back has any touchdowns or significant yardage through the air so far. Washington’s Alfred Morris is the main rusher for the Redskins with 386 yards on 97 rushing attempts. Despite averaging 5.3 yards per carry, Roy Helu has only seen 20 touches so far this season, generating 105 yards and a touchdown. Helu is used much more as a receiver this season with 17 catches for 258 yards, which are all considered “Yards after Catch” since all those grabs were in the flat.
When it comes to receiving, Delanie Walker and Kendall Wright account for 6 of the Titans’ 11 touchdowns on the season. They both combined so far for 55 catches and 650 total yards. Over in Washington, DeSean Jackson (23 receptions, 479 yards, 3 TDs) had a slow start to his first season with the team, but lately he’s been on fire.
Defensively, both teams have 15 sacks on the season, but Tennessee has 7 interceptions to just two for the Redskins. The Titans are allowing around 30 more yards than the Redskins per game.
The Redskins are due for a win after dropping 13 of their last 14 games, allowing an average of around 35 points per game in their ongoing four-game losing streak. The only team they managed to beat was a lackluster Jacksonville Jaguars club on September 14th by a 41-10 margin. The last three games for the Redskins have been particularly brutal. The offense turned over the ball 10 times in those contests with only thirteen turnovers on the whole season. The Redskins are also 6 for 30 on third downs in those three games. Kirk Cousins is desperate for his second win as a starter, having recorded a 1-7 record so far in his career as a starting QB. To get there, he will need Morris to turn in a grand performance, though Morris has been unable to crack 100 yards in his last 13 games.
The Titans are 2-1 against the Redskins since the team moved to Tennessee in 1997, but the Redskins have the last victory in the series thanks to a 19-16 overtime win back on November 21, 20101.
Prediction – Redskins vs Titans: The Redskins get a much needed win. They are finally facing a team that’s beatable, and they take advantage of it. The Titans just have a bad day all around in this one, losing 24-13. Cousins finally completes a game without an interception and connects with DeSean Jackson for a score while Morris gets the other two.
