Wounded Giants Seeking a Win in Tennessee

Football Betting Lines

11/23/2006 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Who'd have guessed, heading into Week 12, that the team coming off a playoff-caliber victory over an NFC East team would be the Tennessee Titans and not the New York Giants?

Now, of course, the Titans have as much chance to reach the postseason in the talent-crammed AFC as Prairie View A&M has of reaching the BCS title game, but their 18-point throttling of the Philadelphia Eagles on the eve of the G-Men's 26-10 smothering loss in Jacksonville is nonetheless food for swamp-side thought.

At 6-4, riddled by injuries and losers of two straight since a five-game win streak had placed them atop a muddled divisional heap, the New Jersey footballers and their fans have to be asking themselves if this is merely a mid-season blip, or an indication of a pre-playoff collapse to mirror the recent postseason folds of the region's two baseball teams.

Much-heralded quarterback Eli Manning continued in the midst of a career-worst slump in the loss to the Jaguars, throwing a pair of interceptions and completing just 19-of-41 passes while the team limped to just 247 total yards compared to Jacksonville's 414.

Even Tiki Barber, in the 10th week of his celebratory pre-retirement victory lap around the league, was off his game, rushing 10 times for 27 yards before the Giants essentially abandoned the run in an effort to narrow their game- long scoreboard deficits.

"There aren't enough words in the dictionary to describe how bad it was (Monday) and how we played," Giants offensive lineman Shaun O'Hara said. "As professionals, it's inexcusable. It can't happen. We should all turn our paychecks back in."

Meanwhile, the Titans are bound for little other than a high place on the 2007 NFL Draft board, but against the Eagles they nonetheless picked up their third victory in five games and witnessed the further maturation of top draft pick Vince Young.

Though only successful on eight-of-22 throws, the University of Texas product nonetheless managed the game without incident against a swarming Philadelphia defense, running for 49 yards and throwing for 101 while committing zero turnovers.

Meanwhile, veteran Travis Henry ran for 143 on 18 tries, including a 70-yard TD gallop.

"It was brought to my attention, that in the last six games, we are leading the NFL in rushing," Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher said Monday. "We knew we had to get that part of the game going."

SERIES HISTORY

The Giants have a 5-3 edge in their all-time series with the Titans, but have lost each of their last three head-to-head meetings with Tennessee. The Titans were 32-29 overtime winners when the clubs last met, at Giants Stadium in 2002, and took a 28-14 decision when the teams last met in the Music City, in 2000. New York has never won in Tennessee, but took all five meetings between the franchises when the latter was known as the Houston Oilers. The G-Men's most recent win in the series was a 13-10 win in Houston in 1994, which also marked Fisher's first game as a head coach after taking over 11 games into the season in place of Jack Pardee.

Giants head coach Tom Coughlin is 7-10 in his career against the Titans, including a 33-14 loss for his Jacksonville team in the 1999 AFC Championship. Fisher is 3-1 all-time against the Giants, and is 10-7 head-to-head against Coughlin, including the playoff win.

GIANTS OFFENSE VS. TITANS DEFENSE

Manning, who the Giants acquired when he refused to sign with San Diego, has tossed at least one TD in 25 of 27 starts and helped New York to a 17-10 record in the games in which he throws at least one scoring pass.

He's thrown 10 touchdown passes in his past seven games against AFC foes and, for the season, has completed 193-of-334 passes for 2,202 yards and 16 touchdowns against 13 interceptions.

Under his leadership, the Giants average 336.9 yards per game, which is 11th- best in the NFL. The passing game accounts for 205 yards -- good for 17th overall -- while the Barber and Brandon Jacobs-powered ground game is seventh at 131.9 yards.

The always durable Barber, who is two yards short of reaching 1,000 for the season, has led the team in rushing for an all-time best 74 straight games and has gone for 200 or more in two of his last five games with the AFC.

The team is 9-2 when the powerful Jacobs rushes for a touchdown and, in his 101 career rushing attempts, he has accounted for first-down yardage 43 times -- 42.6 percent.

String-bean wide receiver Plaxico Burress has caught 40 passes for 623 yards -- a 15.6-yard average -- and scored six touchdowns. In his career, the former Pittsburgh Steeler has helped his teams to a 21-7-1 mark when he scores at least one TD.

Against the Titans, Burress has a pair of 100-yard games and has made 24 catches for 412 yards overall. Elsewhere, outspoken tight end Jeremy Shockey had seven catches for 71 yards in his last game against Tennessee.

The Titans have struggled to stop both the run and pass, and entered last week's encounter with the Eagles as the NFL's worst overall defense.

They've surrendered an average of 375.9 total yards per game, placing them 31st in the 32-team league heading into the meeting with New York -- 30th against the run and 28th against the pass.

Defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch, who put Donovan McNabb out for the season with an innocent-looking sideline push, has registered five sacks in his last seven games against NFC foes, and leads the team with four this season.

Cornerback Pacman Jones made his biggest impact as a punt returner last weekend, carrying a kick back 90 yards for an NFL-lead-tying second touchdown of the season.

Safeties Chris Hope and Lamont Thompson share the team lead with three interceptions apiece.

TITANS OFFENSE VS. GIANTS DEFENSE

Young, who was selected third in the 2006 draft behind Reggie Bush and Mario Williams and was considered by some a riskier choice than former USC signal- caller Matt Leinart, has accounted for at least a rushing or passing touchdown in eight straight games and can improve his record as a starter to 4-4.

It's not without flaws, however. The rookie has completed less than 50 percent of his passes overall -- 90 of 197 -- and has six touchdown passes compared to eight interceptions and has seen his QB rating plummet to an unseemly 56.1.

His predecessor, Kerry Collins, spent five seasons with the Giants and led them to an appearance in Super Bowl XXXV.

Henry's per-carry average of 7.9 yards against Philadelphia was a career best, as was his 70-yard run. He's gone for at least 100 yards in four of his past six games, including touchdowns in two straight.

Overall, he's averaging 6.4 yards per carry against the NFC, and went for 113 yards and a touchdown in his last game against the Giants.

Through the air, wide receiver Drew Bennett has converted 25 of his season- high 32 receptions for first downs and his career total of 259 catches is tied with Eddie George for ninth on the team's all-time list.

He caught four passes for 65 yards and a touchdown against the Giants in the 2002 game.

Injuries are perhaps the most challenging aspect of the game plan for New York this week. The Giants have been gashed for 38 and 26 points on the scoreboard in the last two weeks, following the five-game streak in which they gave up 3, 14, 22, 3 and 10.

Cornerback Sam Madison is questionable with a hamstring problem, while defensive end Osi Umenyiora is also listed is questionable with a hip flexor. Also, linebacker Brandon Short is too questionable with a balky quadriceps.

Elsewhere, end Michael Strahan is expected to miss two to four weeks, and fellow end Justin Tuck was placed on the injured list and is lost for the season, both with foot problems.

The Giants have been gashed for 38 and 26 points on the scoreboard in the last two weeks, following the five-game streak in which they gave up 3, 14, 22, 3 and 10.

Among the remaining healthy players, rookie Mathias Kiwanuka has two sacks and an interception in four career starts. Also, tackle Fred Robbins, a 318- pounder from Wake Forest, has 4.5 sacks.

Overall as a team, New York have 10 interceptions -- tied for third-most in the NFC.

The Giants are 15th in the NFL in total defense, allowing 317.4 yards per game. They are 21st against the pass (213.2 per game) and 13th against the run (104.2).

OVERALL ANALYSIS

The Giants have the edge in personnel, and certainly have more to play for, which should be more than enough to get past the upstart Titans, even on the road.

Expect Coughlin to rely on Barber and Jacobs to pound on a vulnerable Tennessee run defense while simultaneously allowing Manning to regain confidence with a risk-free effort.

Young will make a play or two, and it may not be locked up until the late going, but New York should have enough to at least temporarily restart the engines before a daunting stretch that includes Dallas, Carolina, Philadelphia and New Orleans before a season-ender at Washington.

Sportsbook Betting Lines Predicted Outcome: Giants 24, Titans 14