Tennessee Titans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars: Complete Week 16 Preview for Tennesse

The Tennessee Titans will wrap up their season against division opponents, and first up is a road game versus the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday, Dec. 18.

Both teams have struggled this year, and one of the Titans' two wins came against the Jaguars in Week 6. That said, the Titans and Jaguars have split wins over the last five seasons, and the Jags now have home-field advantage.

The Titans are also in worse shape now than they were when they eked out the win earlier in the year. Both Zach Mettenberger and Jake Locker are out, along with most of the offensive line and both playmaking receivers.

Right now, Tennessee is one of the most banged-up squads in the NFL.

Of course, Jacksonville has its own problems, which is why they have an identical 2-12 record.

Here's a preview for the matchup between these two squads.

Week 15 Recap

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

For the first time in weeks, the Titans looked competitive in their Week 15 game against the New York Jets.

Of course, that probably has a lot to do with the fact that the Jets are a really, really bad team.

Still, the Titans did a pretty good job of stopping the run, holding the Jets—who boast the second-ranked rushing offense in the NFL—to 114 total rushing yards—and 37 of those yards came on one breakaway run.

The Titans also controlled the game for most of the matchup. It wasn't until four minutes remained in the third quarter that the Jets took a lead, and that lasted for just two minutes.

Unfortunately for the Titans, Jake Locker was injured early in the game, leaving Charlie Whitehurst to lead the offense. Whitehurst was decent, throwing for 203 yards, but he was unable to lead the Titans to a touchdown.

In the end, the Jets grabbed a lead on a one-yard touchdown run by Chris Ivory that was set up by multiple penalties on the Titans defense.

News and Notes

Eric Gay/Associated Press

Kendall Wright Practicing Wednesday

The Titans are hopeful that Kendall Wright will return for Thursday's game against the Jaguars. The team is giving him a full workload in Wednesday's practice, per Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.

That's a good sign, as having Whitehurst in at quarterback makes the team a little more limited offensively. Having one of their best playmakers back on the field will be huge.

Thursday Night Blues

The Nashville Post's David Boclair points out that neither the Titans, nor Ken Whisenhunt have a very good record in Thursday night games.

Whisenhunt is 0-2 in Thursday night contests as a head coach, losing 48-20 to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2008 and 17-3 to the St. Louis Rams in 2012 when he was with the Arizona Cardinals. Meanwhile, the Titans are 2-3 on the Thursday Night Football stage.

If this were a longer tenured coach with more than two Thursday night games under his belt, then being winless might tell us something about the way he prepares his teams in a short week. However, I don't think two games is anywhere near a large enough sample size for that.

Injury Report

Mark Zaleski/Associated Press

Player	Position	Status
Brett Brackett	TE	Injured Reserve
Michael Griffin	DB	Probable
Taylor Lewan	OL	Questionable
Jake Locker	QB	Injured Reserve
Dexter McCluster	RB	Questionable
Michael Oher	OL	Injured Reserve
Delanie Walker	TE	Questionable
Kendall Wright	WR	Questionable

All injury information obtained from ESPN.

Well, there's a lot to unpack in this week's injury report. Three players were added to injured reserve: newcomer tight end Brett Brackett, QB Jake Locker and right tackle Michael Oher, who'll need surgery on his injured toe.

Newly injured players include Michael Griffin who's fought injuries through the season, Dexter McCluster, the running back who saw a lot of action against the Jets, and Delanie Walker, arguably the Titans' best offensive player.

All three could end up playing despite their injuries, as have all appeared on the injury report before.

Previously injured players that may return make up the rest of the group. Both Taylor Lewan and Kendall Wright were sorely missed in their absences. The team hopes that both might be able to return for Week 16.

X-Factors and Matchups to Watch

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

Taylor Lewan vs. Jacksonville Pass-Rushers

If Lewan returns, he'll be fun to watch, as it's been a long time since the Titans didn't have two turnstiles at tackle.

Lewan had some rookie moments early on, but overall, he's been very good in his first year. Having him block Whitehurst's blind side will make a tremendous difference in the Titans' ability to keep pressure off of their quarterbacks.

Blake Bortles vs. Titans Defense

The Titans defense looked much better against the Jets than it had in recent weeks. They stopped the run more effectively, they pressured consistently and they didn't allow very many points.

The last time these two teams met, Bortles picked the defense apart up and down the field but wasn't able to finish drives with touchdowns until the end of the game.

It'll be intriguing to see how he plays against them the second time.

X-Factor: WR Kendall Wright

With the loss of Kendall Wright and Justin Hunter in the same week, the Titans receiving corps became anemic. If Wright returns, he'll make a huge impact just by being on the field.

With Wright available, the Jaguars can't afford to double cover Delanie Walker and Nate Washington nearly as often, if at all.

Prediction

Mark Zaleski/Associated Press

The Titans just keep getting worse and worse due to injuries, and once again, who plays and who doesn't may be the key difference in this game.

Lewan and Wright are two of the more important pieces on offense, but they're unlikely to be 100 percent healthy in their first week back on the field. Don't expect them to be at their best.

Then there are the new injuries. Charlie Whitehurst is an OK backup, but that's all he is. Relying on him in this game is not what the Titans want, but it's the situation that they're in.

Lastly, the Titans may have looked better against a lowly team like the Jets, but that doesn't mean there's been any real improvement. They played with less discipline in Week 15 than they've shown all season.

Chief among the problems was Jurrell Casey punching several Jets players, Wesley Woodyard keeping what eventually became a game-winning drive alive and multiple holding penalties.

This game will be close, but the Jaguars will come out on top.

Prediction: Titans 17, Jaguars 20