The Tennessee Titans faced the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Sept. 17 in NFL Week 2, and here are the highlights from the game.
There were a wide-range of NFL pundits — myself included — that had the Tennessee Titans pegged as the breakout team for the 2017 season. However, they started the season 0-1 with a home loss to the Raiders. Instead, it was their AFC South rivals and Week 2 opponents, the Jacksonville Jaguars, that looked more the part of a breakout team.
For a game that many people were excited about, the start was far from exciting. Neither the Titans nor the Jaguars were able to find any kind of rhythm on offense. What’s more, both Blake Bortles and Marcus Mariota weren’t on-point as they both tossed an interception in the first half. With no offense working for either team, they went into the locker room at the half without a touchdown, Tennessee leading 6-3.
Coming out of the half, though, some switch flipped for the Titans. All of the hype that people had about them coming into the year seemed to be realized. Mariota looked locked in and was finding his guys all over the field. What’s more, Derrick Henry took over the bulk of the workload in the second-year back’s hands as far as the run game goes. This led to a 17-point explosion for Tennessee while the defense blanked Bortles and the Jaguars in the third quarter.
The Titans weren’t done, either. They added two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, just torching the Jacksonville defense. As is customary, Bortles and the Jags had some garbage time scores with Leonard Fournette scoring and then Allen Hurns catching one. Still, what started as a defensive battle turned into a rout for the visitors.
Highlights
Marcus keeps it...
— NFL (@NFL) September 17, 2017
Move The Sticks! #TENvsJAX #TitanUp https://t.co/RXLJuY6eFd
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/909492352770744320
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This matchup, shockingly enough, could be an early battle to determine the AFC South winner. Even with the Titans losing in Week 1, they looked quality at times. And with the Jaguars stepping up, this should be a fun matchup that’s quite telling of what’s to come in each team’s respective 2017 campaign.