It's that time of year again, football fans. The third annual Jaguars-Titans Thursday night NEXTravaganza is upon us.
The rivalry between Jacksonville and Tennessee that grew out of the Mark Brunell-Eddie George era in the late 90s has yet to rematerialize, but that hasn't stopped these teams from trying.
Both the Jags and Titans boast former first-round picks with alliterative initials and high, if not overestimated, upsides in Blake Bortles and Marcus Mariota; they both boast defenses on the rise with star young players in Jalen Ramsey and Avery Williamson; and thanks to their weak division, both Jacksonville (2-4) and Tennessee (3-4) still have a chance to conquer the AFC South and live up to their pundits' expectations.
For these rivals, the future is now, or at least it should be. An impressive showing on Thursday Night Football can introduce to the world the talent and potential of the Jags and Titans' anonymous rosters and change the trajectory of both teams' underwhelming 2016 campaigns. A division lead is at most two games away; why not win one this week?
- The old maxim is that the NFL is a quarterback-driven league. So in a fair world, Jacksonville and Tennessee, each toting its own young gunslinger, would be name-brand teams. Unfortunately, both Bortles and Mariota have yet to take off as the football community expected in 2016 and their clubs have followed suit. Bortles was a fantasy darling in 2015, throwing for 35 touchdowns with a nearly 2:1 TD-INT ratio and pioneering a top-tier offense. In his third season under center, the Jags' offense has sputtered. Bortles has thrown nine TDs and as many picks. His 76.4 passer rating is 28th in the league and 11.8 points lower than the prior season's mark. Much of his production is deceiving, as it was last year, for Bortles accumulates a bulk of his scores and yardage in garbage time; in fact, his five picks and 29.3 passer rating in the first quarter are league-worsts. Bortles has had success against Tennessee, tossing for five touchdowns and no picks in their last meeting. But all indications are that Bortles' development has stiffened, his delivery remains flawed and the quarterback might still not be ready for prime time.
- Unlike the Jags with Bortles, the Titans need not rely on Mariota's arm to move the ball, what with their resurgent run game, but it would certainly help if he was more accurate. The sophomore quarterback has played well of late, boasting an 8:1 TD-to-INT ratio and rushing more than double his average yardage. However, Mariota still misses wide receivers on everything from simple sideline throws to deep balls. A dual-threat QB, he continues to demonstrate lax ball security; Mariota fumbled twice last week and has thrown 13 interceptions at home in his career. Against Jacksonville's run defense, which was burned by Latavius Murray in Week 7, Mariota might be asked to run the ball more than usual; after all, he ran for 112 yards in his last meeting with the Jags, 87 of which came on one game-breaking scamper. But whether he can attack Jacksonville through the air will be the question Thursday. The Jaguars haven't given up more than 42 yards to a tight end this season, so Mariota will need to look to someone other than Delanie Walker to catch his passes.
- DeMarco Murray is back. Exiled in Chip Kelly's Philadelphia wasteland in 2015, Murray has found his 2014 form in Nashville. The former Cowboys back is putting up numbers on pace with his league-leading season in Big D (5.0 scrimmage yards per touch, seven totals TDs in seven games). Murray is the beneficiary of two things in Tennessee: a restful offseason and Mularkey's exotic smashmouth run-heavy offense. With Murray in tow, the Titans run the ball six more times per game, average about a full yard more per rush and total more than 50 yards more per game. That trend should continue against Jacksonville.
- Mr. Robinson, you tried to seduce us didn't you? Allen Robinson is M.I.A. and Jaguars fans -- and fantasy owners -- should be worried sick. Though the wideout is on pace to equal his receptions total from last season, Robinson is not putting up the yardage totals that Jacksonville expected. At this point last season, Robinson was averaging six yards per reception more than he is currently. Plus, the third-year wideout is coming down with a case of the dropsies; despite being targeted the most on the roster by far (55 targets), he is second on the team with 26 receptions. That means if Bortles throws the ball Robinson's way, the chances he comes down with the ball are less than 50 percent. So who's to blame for the wideout's poor production? Do the Jags have too many emerging weapons, like Marqise Lee and Julius Thomas? Does Bortles favor other wideouts? Or is it possible that Robinson was a flash-in-the-pan, big-play wunderkind in 2015? It's unlikely we'll find answers to all those questions Thursday.
