The Tennessee Titans and Los Angeles Chargers will do battle for the first time in three years when they meet face-to-face in Week 15 at SoFi Stadium.
The Titans come into this game badly wounded, both literally and figuratively.
Tennessee remains historically banged-up and has lost each of its last three games, including two via blowouts at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Making those losses even worse, the Eagles crushed the Titans with the help of A.J. Brown, and the Titans had historically dominated the Jaguars before getting whooped last Sunday.
As if all that wasn’t enough, the Jaguars loss came on the heels of the team firing its general manager, who was responsible for trading Brown away.
Meanwhile, the Chargers find themselves on the outside looking in as far as the playoffs are concerned, but they’re right in the hunt and are coming off two wins in three games, including an impressive one against the Miami Dolphins in Week 14.
With the matchup just days away, here are six things to know.
Chargers are favored
According to Tipico Sportsbook, the Titans are three-point underdogs to the Chargers, with the over/under set at 47.5. This comes as zero surprise for a few reasons.
Not only are the Chargers at home, but they’re simply the better all-around team. Los Angeles comes into this game having won two of three, while Tennessee has lost each of its last three, and two in blowout fashion.
As if playing poorly wasn’t enough, the Titans are also extremely banged-up. The Chargers have dealt with plenty of injuries this season, also, but Tennessee is on the verge of leading the NFL once again.
Head-to-head history
This will be the 48th meeting (including playoffs) between these two franchises, with the Chargers owning a 28-18-1 all-time advantage.
Since 1993, the Chargers have won 11 of the last 13 against the Titans/Oilers. However, the two teams have split their last four, with the Titans emerging victorious in the last meeting in 2019, 23-20.
Titans' historic injury issues
There’s no question both teams have been impacted by injuries this season, but even the Chargers would blush at the Titans’ situation, which has now become a trend over a few years.
After breaking the NFL record for the most players fielded last season with 91, the Titans are close to breaking the record once again in 2022, with a total of 80 players having seen at least one snap, the most in the league.
The Titans also have the highest number of games missed by players due to injury with 237, 27 more than the next closest team, according to Man Games Lost.
NFL through week 14, Top 5, most games missed by injured players and health protocols
TEN 237
DEN 210
NYG 206
NOR 203
SEA 201— Man Games Lost NFL (@ManGamesLostNFL) December 14, 2022
While the Titans haven’t been able to thrive through their injuries as much as they did last season (they won the No. 1 seed in the AFC), it’s still pretty impressive they’re above .500 — for now.
Bad matchup for the defenses
Derrick Henry and the Titans finally had at least some success running the football last week, albeit in just one quarter. Still, it was the first game since Week 9 that Henry broke the century mark.
Now, Tennessee draws a matchup against a Chargers defense that ranks 28th against the run. Normally the Titans would almost certainly thrive against such a matchup, but nothing is guaranteed with this offensive line.
On the other side of the ball, the Titans have struggled against the pass, with Tennessee’s defense ranking 31st. Adding to that, the Titans’ top pass-rusher, Denico Autry, and top cornerback, Kristian Fulton, are uncertain to play in Week 15.
Meanwhile, the Chargers boast the No. 3 passing attack, and that’s with the team having missed Mike Williams for four games and Keenan Allen for seven. Both players are now healthy.
The Titans can’t afford to get into a shootout with the Chargers, but that’s the scenario they’ll be facing if the defense doesn’t improve on Sunday.
Titans' lack of success against winning teams
One of the many reasons the Titans aren’t expected to do much this year is their struggles against winning teams.
Tennessee sports a 1-5 mark against teams with a winning record this season, and that lone win came against the Washington Commanders in Week 5 when they were 1-3 and still had Carson Wentz under center.
The Titans’ five losses came against the New York Giants, Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals and Philadelphia Eagles. Two of those games (Bills, Eagles) were of the blowout variety.
It’s bad enough that this team has talent issues, but the inability to hang with some of the league’s best only confirms what we knew: this team isn’t capable of making much noise in the playoffs.
More of a must win for Chargers
While the Titans desperately need a win in this game to get back on track, a loss wouldn’t be too damaging to Tennessee’s playoff hopes, as the team would still be in control of its own destiny in the AFC South.
The same cannot be said for the Chargers, whose best bet is to get in via a wild card spot.
Currently, Los Angeles is four games behind the Chiefs in the AFC West but own the No. 8 spot in the playoff picture and sport the same record as the Patriots, who sit in the seventh and final playoff spot.
Not only can the Chargers jump the Pats with a win and a New England loss, but they can also pass the Miami Dolphins for the No. 6 spot if they fall to Buffalo, as the Chargers own the head-to-head tie-breaker over Miami.
The Pats losing would also give the Chargers a superior conference record, which is the tie-breaker since the two squads don’t face each other in 2022.
All things considered, there is a lot more on the line for the Chargers in this game. However, a fourth-straight loss would be very bad for a team already spiraling out of control, and concerns about a potential collapse will only grow.
