The Tennessee Titans (2-3) and Baltimore Ravens (3-2) will meet for the next chapter of their legendary rivalry in Week 6, but for the first time ever, it will take place in another country.
Tennessee and Baltimore are the latest teams to take part in the International Series in 2023. This is the third game played in London after the Jacksonville Jaguars played (and beat) the Atlanta Falcons and Buffalo Bills in back-to-back weeks.
Baltimore is coming off a very disappointing loss at the hands of their division rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers, while the Titans also lost a very frustrating divisional game in Week 5 versus the Indianapolis Colts.
After this week, the Titans will enjoy a bye and can recoup after the long trip. The Ravens, however, don’t have their bye until Week 13 and will host the Detroit Lions in Week 7.
Here are seven things to know for the Week 6 game between the Titans and Ravens at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Titans are "home" underdogs
According to BetMGM, the Titans, who are considered the home team, are four-point underdogs to the Ravens, with the over/under set at 41.5. Both the over/under and spread have gone up since they were 39.5 and 3.5 to start the weeks, respectively.
According to Team Rankings, the Titans and Ravens are 3-2 against the spread and both have hit the over just once in five games.
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Head-to-head and international game history
The Titans and Ravens have met a total of 26 times (including playoffs) and have split the games evenly, with each team winning 13 apiece.
Tennessee has won two of the last three meetings between these teams, with one of those wins coming in the 2019 playoffs and the loss coming in the 2021 playoffs.
The Titans and Ravens have each played one game in London, however they played in Wembley Stadium and not in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where they will face off on Sunday.
The Titans lost back in 2018 to the Los Angeles Chargers, 20-19, and Baltimore got romped by the Jaguars in 2017, 44-7.
Different travel plans
The Ravens left for London on Monday morning, the earliest a team has departed overseas this season. The hope is that players will be a bit better prepared with more time to acclimate to the time change.
The Titans are leaving on Thursday night, just like the Jaguars, Buffalo Bills and Atlanta Falcons did for their games.
That travel plan didn’t work out for Buffalo or Atlanta, as both teams looked sluggish in their respective contests against the Jaguars. Of course, the Jags did just fine, with wins over both teams, although they stayed in London ahead of the game against the Bills.
This travel approach is the same one the Titans took in 2018 while the Ravens’ is a departure from what they did in 2017, when they left on Thursday night that year.
Opposites in the red zone
Perhaps the biggest reason behind Tennessee’s loss to the Colts last week was the team’s red zone struggles. The Titans were just 1-for-4 in that area and are now 1-for-9 in the red zone in their three losses this season.
Overall, Tennessee ranks 29th in red zone success rate at 35.3 percent. The Ravens, on the other hand, are converting 72.2 percent of their trips into touchdowns, the third-best in the NFL, per Team Rankings.
Both teams have been good at stopping opponents in the red zone, with the Ravens ranking first (25 percent) and the Titans ranking fourth (35.3 percent).
Wide receiver concerns
Both teams enter this contest with concerns at the wide receiver position.
The Ravens are coming off a game in which their wideouts dropped a whopping 10 passes, including multiple in the end zone.
The Titans got just one catch for nine yards from their wideouts not named DeAndre Hopkins last week, and they might be without second-year wide receiver and the team’s No. 2, Treylon Burks, again this week.
Burks, who has also struggled with drops and is off to a disappointing start to the season in general, started off the week not taking part in practice.
Top 10 run defenses
The Titans and Ravens sport top 10 run defenses over the first five weeks. The Ravens rank seventh while the Titans rank ninth.
Tennessee has sported an elite run defense is each of the last two years and were the No. 4 unit going into Week 5 before Zack Moss and the Colts gashed the Titans for 193 yards on the ground.
Moss’ 163-yard game marked the first time since Week 1 of last season that the Titans allowed a running back to cross the century mark.
Baltimore has been the much better team against the pass, with the defense ranking third. Tennessee comes into this game with the No. 23 pass defense.
Jadeveon Clowney revenge game?
There was no Titans move more hyped up by fans and media alike in 2020 than the signing of Jadeveon Clowney.
Unfortunately, the hype proved to not be warranted, as the South Carolina product was woefully disappointing and didn’t tally a single sack over eight games before missing the rest of the season.
“I think it was a little bit of both,” Clowney said when talking about why he struggled. “Early on it was the scheme, and then later on I think it was my knee.”
Clowney also managed to take a shot at his old team after joining the Cleveland Browns in 2021.
“(The Browns) are winning,” Clowney said about why he chose the Browns. “They won 12 games last year, right? That’s more than what my team I played for last year won.”
Clowney went on to eat those words for lunch, as his Browns finished the season 8-9, falling short of the playoffs, while the Titans were 12-5 and the No. 1 seed in the conference.
The former No. 1 pick spent the last two seasons in Cleveland, where he tallied 11 sacks over 26 games, nine of which came in 2021.
He has since moved on to the Ravens and will be playing in his first game against the Titans since the aforementioned season in Tennessee. Clowney has posted 1.5 sacks over the first five weeks of 2023.
