This will be a very interesting game this Sunday.  The Titans are a team on the rise while the Chargers are a talented team that is on life support.  The Titans are 3-0 on the road and they have outscored the opposition by a combined score of 93-40!  The Chargers are solid at home as they are 2-1 and they have outscored the opposing teams 99-46!  Something has to give this Sunday in San Diego.  Here’s a look at the matchups:

When the Titans have the ball:  It looks like Vince Young will be back at QB so look for the Titans to get back to the grind it out on the ground gameplan.  Chris Johnson will likely be taking on the Chargers’ D early and often in this game despite the fact that they are only giving up 85.7 yards rushing per game on 3.5 yards per carry.  The Chargers have 25 sacks and 7 interceptions already this year so Vince Young is going to have to make quick and smart decisions this Sunday when throwing the football.  WR Kenny Britt will likely be the go to man in the passing game again this weekend for the Titans.

When the Chargers have the ball:  The Chargers will likely be able to move the ball Sunday but the Titans will be trying to make them turn the ball over.  The Chargers have 18 turnovers already this year which is the big reason that they are 2-5.  Philip Rivers will likely come out throwing against the Titans this weekend.  Antonio Gates and Patrick Crayton will be the top targets in the passing game for Rivers if he has time to throw the ball as the Titans have 25 sacks and 12 interceptions already this year.  Look for Rivers to throw the ball a lot to Darren Sproles out of the backfield in an attempt to slow down the Titans pass rush.  Ryan Mathews and Mike Tolbert will try to land some ground support to Rivers on Sunday.

PREDICTION:  TITANS 26, CHARGERS 23

The Titans were down 19-10 with only 13:26 left in this game before they took over scoring the last 27 points today!  Kerry Collins was very solid today as he completed 17 of 31 passes for 276 yards with 3 TD passes and 2 INTs.  Chris Johnson had a rough go of it today finishing with 66 yards rushing on 24 carries (2.8 ypc).  Kenny Britt didn’t get to start this game because he got into a bar fight this week.  But when he came in he was amazing!  Britt caught 7 passes for 225 yards (32.1 avg) with 3 TD grabs today (16, 26 and 80 yarders).  The Titans finished up with 75 yards rushing on 26 carries (2.9 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 31 passes for 253 yards despite only having possession of the ball for 26:36.

The defense played pretty well for the Titans as they forced quite a few turnovers today.  LB Stephen Tulloch (12 tackles) and CB Cortland Finnegan (8 tackles, 1 pass defensed and a interception on the last play of the game that he returned 41 yards for a TD) led the way for the Titans on D in this game.  CB Alterraun Verner (fumble recovery), LB Tim Shaw (fumble recovery) and safety Michael Griffin (interception) also made big plays for the Titans’ D today.  The Eagles finished up with 99 yards rushing on 24 carries (4.1 ypc) and they also completed 26 of 48 passes for 227 yards.  The Titans are now a very solid 5-2 on the season.

The Eagles are the road warriors of the NFL as they are 3-0 outscoring the opposition by a combined score of 90-59.  The Titans have had issues playing at home as they are only 1-2 on the year sleeping in their own beds.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Eagles have the ball:  I have little doubt that the Titans are going to get to Kevin Kolb often in this game.  Eagles’ QBs have been sacked 20 times this year while the Titans have a stunning 24 sacks already this year.  Pass protection problems have not stopped the Eagles from throwing the ball this year though as they are averaging 246.0 yards passing (103.3 QB Rating) so don’t expect them to change the game plan too much.  Without Desean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin will be the lone deep threat for the Eagles so whoever is guarding him will need help over the top.  Jason Avant, Brent Celek and Lesean McCoy will probably be targeted a lot on the underneath stuff so the Titans will need to cover them closely.  The Titans will likely try to defend Lesean McCoy on the way to the QB.

When the Titans have the ball:  The Titans are going to come out running the ball with Chris Johnson and Javon Ringer.  The Eagles are giving up 115.7 yards rushing and 4.2 yards per carry this year so the Titans should find a lot of running room.  Kerry Collins is likely to draw the start for the Titans this Sunday so the passing game will likely be more vertical.   The Eagles are a heavy blitzing team so the Titans better protect Collins who tends to make mistakes in the face of a wicked pass rush.

PREDICTION:  EAGLES 30, TITANS 23

The Titans have an amazing 24 sacks already this season and the DEs have a lot to do with that.  30-year old Jason Babin has been excellent this season with his all around game.  Babin has played in all six games for the Titans so far this year and he has 24 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss, 6 sacks and 1 forced fumble.  29-year old Dave Ball is also off to a great start for the Titans this year.  Ball has played in all six games for the Titans this year and he has 16 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 passes defensed and 1 fumble recovery.  No one talks about Babin & Bell when mentioning impact DEs but that could change if these guys keep up the current pace.

Head Coach Jeff Fisher was very upset 24-year old WR Kenny Britt early this year.  An injury to Justin Gage gave 22-year old Britt a chance to get back into the good graces of his coach and Titans’ fans and that’s exactly what he has done.  Britt has played in all six games for the Titans so far this year and he has caught 16 passes for 209 yards (13.1 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  He had a solid rookie year in 2009 for the Titans playing in all 16 games in which he caught 42 passes for 701 yards (16.7 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  Britt has a lot of talent so he just needs to remain focused and motivated to realize his true potential.

The Titans dominated the Jaguars last night in Jacksonville.  Vince Young hurt his knee early in this game and he did not return.  Before his injury, Young completed 3 of 5 passes for 61 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  Kerry Collins did a great job of filling in for Young as he completed 11 of 16 passes for 110 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  Chris Johnson carried the ball 26 times for 111 yards (4.3 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 2 passes for 20 yards (10.0 avg) last night.  But those were hard earned yards.  Javon Ringer pitched in with 42 yards rushing on 10 carries (4.2 ypc) last night.  Bo Scaife (4 rec, 53 yards, TD), Damian Williams (4 rec, 48 yards) and Kenny Britt (2 rec, 33 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Titans last night.  The Titans finished up with 153 yards rushing on 39 carries (3.9 ypc) and they also completed 14 of 21 passes for 171 yards.

Linebacker Stephen Tulloch led the way for the Titans’ D last night with 8 tackles and 1 fumble recovery.  Michael Griffin, Alterraun Verner and Vincent Fuller each picked off a pass against the Jaguars last night.  The Jaguars finished up with 76 yards rushing on 25 carries (3.0 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 36 passes for 173 yards.  The Titans are now 4-2 on the season after this very impressive win.

These teams are both 3-2 on the year and they both like to run the ball so it could be one of the quickest Monday Night Football Games in quite some time.  The Titans travel well as they are 2-0 on the road, outscoring the Cowboys & Giants by a combined score of 63-37.  The Jaguars are 2-1 at home as they play better in Jacksonville.  Each team blew out the other at home last season but Kerry Collins started that game for the Titans last year and that will not be the case on Monday Night.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Titans have the ball:  Chris Johnson rushed for 325 yards on 40 carries (8.1 ypc) with 2 TD runs against the Jaguars last season.  He is going to be the focal point of the offense in this game against a Jags’ D that is allowing 102.8 yards rushing and 4.4 yards per carry.  The Jaguars will likely rush QB Vince Young hard from the corners to try to keep him in the pocket where he can’t do as much damage.  I look for the Titans to have some success whenever they decide to throw the ball as opposing QBs have a 108.4 Rating against the Jags and they have 12 TD passes already against the Jags.

When the Jaguars have the ball:  Maurice Jones-Drew will be the focal point of the offense for the Jags in this game as he carried the ball 14 times for 191 yards (13.6 ypc) with 3 TD runs against the Titans last year.  The Titans already have 22 sacks this year and David Garrard can be forced into making mistakes when the pass rush is in his face.  But whenever the Titans don’t get to the QB they are getting burned as they are giving up 242.6 yards passing per game.  Look for Garrard to target Mike Thomas, Mike Sims-Walker and Marcedes Lewis on the short stuff trying to get them to make plays after the catch.  Maurice Jones-Drew will also likely catch a lot of passes in the flat which would do a lot of damage to the Titans should they continue to blitz heavily.

PREDICTION:  JAGUARS 28, TITANS 27

The Titans have placed 27-year old linebacker Colin Allred on the Injured Reserve List with a neck injury.  Allred played in 5 games for the Titans this year and he had 5 tackles.  Allred has now played in 32 games in his four years with the Titans and he has 46 tackles.  This injury will hurt the Titans’ depth at linebacker and the special teams a bit.

The bottom line in this game was that the Titans just made more big plays than the Cowboys did.  Vince Young was in game manager mode as he completed 12 of 25 passes for 173 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 4 times for 5 yards (1.3 ypc).  Charles Johnson was a beast for the Titans today as he carried the ball 19 times for 131 yards (6.9 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  Javon Ringer pitched in with 22 yards rushing on 4 carries (5.5 ypc).  WRs Kenny Britt (4 rec, 86 yards, TD) and Nate Washington (1 rec, 24 yards, TD) led the way in the passing attack for the Titans in Big D.  The Titans finished up with 158 yards rushing on 27 carries (5.9 ypc) and they also completed 12 of 25 passes for 163 yards as they only had possession of the ball for 23:16.

Linebacker Stephen Tulloch led the for the Titans on D in this game with 13 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 INT.  Chris Hope (9 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit), Alterraun Verner (8 tackles, 1 pass defensed  and 1 INT) and Michael Griffin (4 tackles, 1 pass defensed, 2 QB hits and 1 INT) also pitched in with some big plays on D.  The Cowboys finished up with 141 yards rushing on 23 carries (6.1 ypc) and they also completed 31 of 46 passes for 370 yards.  The Titans are now 3-2 on the year.

The Titans have released 31-year old LB Jamie Winborn.  Winborn played in all 4 games for the Titans so far this year and he had 9 tackles.  The Titans have activated linebacker Gerald McRath after his four game league suspension and they expect him to join the starting lineup today against the Cowboys.  McRath played in all 16 games as a rookie last season for the Titans and he had 47 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception.

UPDATE:  (10/14/2010) – The Titans have re-signed Winborn.