The Tennessee Titans will have their toughest matchup of the 2023 campaign yet when they travel to Hard Rock Stadium on Monday night to take on the Miami Dolphins.
The last-place Titans enter this game off an emotional, heartbreaking loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Tennessee is technically not eliminated from playoff contention yet, but they’d need a major miracle to turn things around.
Meanwhile, the Dolphins are on the opposite side of the spectrum, with Miami sitting in first place in the AFC East and atop the conference as a whole in the No. 1 seed.
The Titans are massive underdogs in this game, and for good reason. Miami’s high-powered passing attack is the absolute worst matchup for a Tennessee defense that has struggled mightily in coverage this year.
Not a single expert in our picks round-up chose the Titans, but is anyone on our staff brave enough to buck the trend? Find out now as our staff makes its picks and predictions for Week 14.
Our records
Mike Moraitis: 4-8
Shaun Calderon: 3-9
After an 0-8 start, Mike has successfully picked each of the last four games and still has a chance — albeit a miniscule one — to get out of this season above .500.
Meanwhile, Shaun incorrectly picked last week’s game against the Colts, which clinches a sub-.500 finish to the season for him. However, he’s still very much in the running for first place here.
Now, our picks and predictions for Week 14.
Shaun Calderon
The last time the Titans played the Dolphins, Tennessee beat them by 31 points in a game that was arguably the worst outing of Tua Tagovailoa’s career.
Something tells me he remembers that very clearly, and I think he’s going to be motivated to right that wrong. I would love to be proven wrong, but I think this ends up being a very long night for the Titans and their fans.
Final score prediction: Dolphins 38, Titans 16
Mike Moraitis
This is a terrible matchup for the Titans, who are facing the league’s most high-powered passing attack while sporting a secondary that can’t stop a nosebleed. And, oh yeah, the Dolphins can run the ball, too.
We all know how this one will go: the Dolphins will be able to do whatever they want through the air, barring relentless pressure and sacks from a Jeffery Simmons-less pass-rush. Kristian Fulton is likely to be out also, although that might be more of a positive than a negative.
The defense will no doubt get cooked, but the Titans show some fight on the other side of the ball on the strength of a bounce-back game from Will Levis, which keeps this game closer than anyone expects and shows the national audience that the Titans have something special in their young signal-caller.
Final score prediction: Dolphins 37, Titans 27
