NFL Betting: Tennessee Titans at Buffalo Bills

Added on Oct 16, 2012 by Jack Thurman in

NFL

Not exactly the ‘marquee matchup’ of Sunday’s NFL betting card at first glance, the Tennessee Titans will travel to upstate New York to take on the Buffalo Bills. The Bills are coming in off an upset win over Arizona while the Titans upset Pittsburgh a week ago Thursday.

Tennessee Titans at Buffalo Bills
October 21, 2012 10:00 AM Pacific

So where to start with this ugly matchup? The fact that both teams are coming in off upset wins somewhat negates the ‘letdown’ factor that we’d usually look at in this situation. The 10 day break that Tennessee had since their upset win over the Steelers could be as much to their detriment as anything else resulting in less focus and intensity. Jake Locker still isn’t ready to resume throwing again after reinjuring his shoulder so look for Matt Hasselbeck to get the start once again. Hasselbeck had his moments against the Steelers but is still erratic at best. In theory, the Titans could exploit Buffalo’s worst in the NFL rushing defense but Chris Johnson is even more erratic than Hasselbeck. William Powell and the Arizona Cardinals’ rushing didn’t do much against the Bills–at his best Johnson is vastly better but who knows if he’ll show up?

Tennessee hasn’t been a good road team in the past few seasons–they’re on a 7-12 SU/7-11-1 ATS run away from the ‘Music City’ since 2010 including a 0-3 SU/ATS showing this year. Then again, the Bills are just 7-10 SU/6-9-1 ATS in that same timeframe. Buffalo has covered in their only two spots as a home favorite this season. Don’t expect this line to go lower than 3 but getting less than a field goal I might have some interest in playing the Bills. Ryan Fitzpatrick has regressed since last year but he’s still a better quarterback than Hasselbeck at this stage of his career. Also, some interest in the Under–extended forecast for Buffalo shows rain and wind for much of the next 10 days meaning Sunday’s conditions could be conducive to a low scoring game. The problem is that it’s hard to trust either team’s defense to make it work. Until Tennessee shows some improvement on the road we just can’t trust them with our money making Buffalo the play.

Bet Buffalo Bills -3 over Tennessee Titans