Signup

The Tennessee Titans were the AFC’s top seed last year but flamed out in the playoffs. Not nearly as much is expected from the team in 2022 as the Titans open at home vs. the New York Giants on Sunday as solid favorites on the NFL odds.

How to Bet Giants at Titans NFL Odds & TV Info

When: Sunday, 4:25 PM ET
Where: Nissan Stadium
TV: FOX
Radio: http://www.siriusxm.com/nfl
Stream Option: NFLSUNDAYTICKET.TV
Opening NFL Lines: Titans -5.5 (total 43.5)

Last Meeting

In 2018, the Giants hosted the Titans and lost 17-0. Derrick Henry had high 33 carries for 170 yards rushing and two touchdowns. The Titans’ defense limited Saquon Barkley to 31 yards on 14 carries and added three sacks, a third-quarter interception by Kevin Byard that stopped a New York drive inside the red zone with the score 7-0, and a forced fumble that set up Henry’s second TD. Marcus Mariota was the Tennessee QB that day and Eli Manning was New York’s. Both are long gone.

Why Bet on NY Giants?

The Giants went 2-1 in the preseason, defeating the New England Patriots and Cincinnati Bengals before falling to the New York Jets in the finale. The team’s starters only saw limited action in those three games.

Although it was only a limited sample size, the offense put up a good performance during the preseason. The Giants finished the three-game slate ranked first in the NFL in total yards (382.7) and passing yards (279.0) per game. They also finished at the top of the NFC in passing attempts (143), completion percentage (71.3 percent) and fewest sacks allowed (three).

Two of the most important pieces to the offense’s success this year are quarterback Daniel Jones and running back Saquon Barkley. After they missed some time during the 2021 campaign, both players enter the season healthy.

Starting receiver Sterling Shepard (Achilles) was limited in Thursday’s practice. That made back-to-back limited tags for Shepard, who already declared himself good to go for Week 1. Shepard was activated from the PUP list in late August after tearing his Achilles in December. It remains to be seen how healthy he’ll be and how many targets he’ll get in Brian Daboll’s new-look offense.

Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka will call plays in Week 1. It’s something of a surprise as new head Daboll came to NFL prominence with play-calling for Josh Allen and the hyper-productive Buffalo offense. Kafka, 34, was Kansas City’s quarterbacks coach over the past few seasons.

Andrew Thomas is the lone incumbent starter among the team’s offensive linemen after he took a big step in his development last season. He played 800 total offensive snaps in 2021 and allowed just two sacks on 517 pass block snaps. Thomas earned an 82.1 pass block grade from PFF, which ranked 12th among all offensive tackles, while his 78.9 overall grade ranked 19th.

The Giants signed several veteran linemen in free agency before they added a few more in the draft. Of the nine offensive linemen currently on the 53-man roster, only Thomas, Ben Bredeson and Devery Hamilton are returning from last year’s squad.

Why Bet on Tennessee?

The Titans still live and die offensively with former two-time rushing champion Henry. Henry played only eight games last year after suffering a broken foot. He was leading the league in rushing when he suffered the injury and averaged 117 yards per game even though he ultimately fell short of 1,000 rushing yards.

According to Pro Football Focus, Henry finished the 2021 season with 22 rushes of 10+ yards and 33 forced missed tackles. The Titans had the sixth-most rushes of 10+ yards last season. Thanks in part to Henry’s presence, the Titans were the second-best team in football on third- and fourth-down attempts of one yard, converting at 83%.

In 2020, Henry was named the Associated Press NFL Offensive Player of the Year after rushing 378 times for 2,027 yards and 17 touchdowns. He plans to return to form in 2022.

“I am just hungry,” Henry said. “I can’t worry about (what people say). I am just focused on what I need to do. I am hungry, and I am ready to go. I want to get better and I want to help my teammates get better. I am focused on Sunday.”

Tennessee traded top receiver AJ Brown to Philadelphia and the draft and the team has a major role planned for rookie first-round WR Treylon Burks. Robert Woods is slated to open the season as team’s No. 1 receiver, but the Titans gave Burks extra reps this preseason, playing him deep into games, as a way to get him up to speed after a nondescript training camp. Injuries and a rough preseason make it possible the Titans move Burks slowly, but with third-year WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and TE Austin Hooper the options for targets behind Woods, Burks could have a larger than expected Week 1 role.

Defensively, the team recently took a major hit as pass-rusher Harold Landry suffered a torn ACL and will miss the 2022 season. It’s a massive blow for a player coming off a career-high 12 sacks, and a team that signed Landry to a five-year, $87.5 million extension in March. It places huge pressure on fellow pass-rusher Bud Dupree.