It almost seems as though the sports wagering sites are afraid to say it, but the New York Giants are falling apart and not responding anymore to head coach Tom Coughlin. In the Giants week two loss to the Indianapolis Colts, all-pro running back Brandon Jacobs only ran the ball four times before he was benched. Now the NFL betting experts are saying that Jacobs wants out of New York. When running back Tiki Barber retired in 2006, he caused quite a media frenzy when he spoke out against Tom Coughlin and quarterback Eli Manning. It could be that years of having a dysfunctional locker room have caught up with the Giants.
The Tennessee Titans did not look much better than the Giants when the NFL scores for week two were finalized. The Titans turned the ball over seven times, benched starting quarterback Vince Young and handed a game to the Pittsburgh Steelers in week two. Titans head coach Jeff Fisher has announced that Vince Young will start this game against the Giants. Vince Young still represents the best chance that the Titans have to win. Even with seven turnovers, the Steelers won the game by a relatively narrow margin of 19-11.
The Giants looked completely helpless against the Colts, but in the world of NFL predictions it is much different to look helpless against the 2010 Indianapolis Colts defense than it is to look helpless against the 2010 Pittsburgh Steelers defense. The Colts have two of the best defensive linemen in football in Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. Both Mathis and Freeney had two sacks against the Giants which severely hampered the Giants offense.
The Titans had major problems with the Steelers defense all day long in week two. In a game that Tennessee should have won and dominated offensively, the Titans gave up four sacks and five fumbles. Pittsburgh inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons was able to rack up 12 tackles and all-pro outside linebacker James Harrison had 10 tackles. The Tennessee running game was unable to get past the Steelers front seven and, as a result, Titans running back Chris Johnson only has 34 yards on the ground.
Picking this game comes down to which team you believe can recover better from an embarrassing loss the week before. It can be said that the Titans had a bad week. It happens. Quarterback Vince Young and running back Chris Johnson are extremely talented football players that take success and failure seriously. The Titans can recover from a bad game.
The Giants have been having problems for a couple of years now. Getting dismantled by Peyton Manning is not something new for any NFL team, but the entire Colts team dominated the Giants, and New York looked almost timid in their loss.
The Giants will find that the linebackers in Tennessee, led by Will Witherspoon, offer a challenge similar to the Colts. The difference is that the Tennessee pass rush is not as dominant as the Colts. But it may be enough to stop the Giants.
Pick: Tennessee Titans 27-17
