The goal of the Tennessee Titans was to win games and keep prized draft pick Marcus Mariota healthy. Ken Whisenhunt failed at both and was relieved of his duties as head coach earlier this week. Mike Mularkey was named interim coach and the club is hoping for a spark much like the Miami Dolphins got when Joe Philbin was let go last month.
ODDS
Tennessee has not made an official announcement on its starting quarterback keeping the NFL spread and total off the board.
KEY INJURIES
Marcus Mariota – Has missed the last two games with a sprained knee ligament but returned to practice this week wearing a brace. His status for Sunday is still unclear. Zach Mettenberger started the last two games.
Kendall Wright – Suffered an apparent sprained MCL in his left knee last week in Houston, taking the Titans’ top receiving threat out of the lineup. Wright is the second-leading pass catcher behind tight end Delanie Walker. Dorial Green-Beckham could get more snaps in place of Wright.
Khiry Robinson – Was lost for the season with a tibia fracture, sustained during the second quarter of last week’s game with the Giants. The Saints signed Tim Hightower to fill the void and he’ll likely be the third running back on the depth chart behind Mark Ingram and C.J. Spiller. Rookie Marcus Murphy, who’s excelled on kick returns, may also get some carries.
KEY MISMATCH
The Saints offense looked like the feared group from seasons ago in last week’s wild 52-49 win over the Giants. And who would have known that after a winless start, the Saints would win three straight games for the first time since November 2013, and four out of five and still have an opportunity to make something of their season when they reached the midway point. Drew Brees was on fire and had one of the most impressive performances in NFL history completing 39 passes for a league record-tying seven touchdowns and 505 yards. He passed for over 300 yards and four touchdowns in the first half, matching the number of scoring passes New York allowed in its first seven games. Brees threw scoring passes to five different receivers and compiled a passer rating of 131.7. Coach Sean Payton attacked the Giants porous pass defense in the first half and mixed the run and pass well in the second half to keep the visitors off-balance. Tennessee has the third-ranked pass defense largely due to their inability to stop the run.
KEY STAT
17.9 – Tennessee’s 31st-ranked points per game average. The Titans are averaging 9.0 in their last four games and haven’t scored more than 13 points. New Orleans is generous defensively giving up 29.2 points per game to rank 30th in scoring defense.
BETTING ANGLE
The Miami Dolphins got a jolt from interim coach Dan Campbell when he replaced Joe Philbin a month ago, winning the first two games and looking like a much different team. The Titans are hoping for the same response after naming Mike Mularkey interim coach Tuesday replacing Whisenhunt. Without tipping his hand too much, Mularkey said he plans to change the Titans’ protection schemes and a run-pass balance will also be a priority. Mularkey also handed the play-calling duties to 37-year-old offensive coordinator Jason Michael, who now has the responsibilities that traditionally come with the job title. While he’s helped devise a lot of game plans, he’s never called plays before. Whisenhunt had called plays during all 23 games of his tenure.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
The Titans are starting over again after firing Whisenhunt halfway through his second season with only three wins. There is plenty of blame to go around, but the bottom line is that Tennessee just isn’t good enough right now. If the organization wants to protect Mariota he might sit another game to avoid the risk of further damage. That would leave Mettenberger, who played just down I-10 at LSU, to enjoy a bit of a homecoming. While the Titans are only two games out of first place in the weak AFC South, they are the worst of the bunch, and that’s saying something. The Saints, meanwhile, are clicking and the shoulder injury that many thought would end Brees’ career is a thing of the past. Tennessee’s defense is solid, but not good enough to slow down Brees and the Saints.
New Orleans 31, Tennessee 20
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