Week 3 Preview: Titans at Jets

The Titans come into New York with an 0-2 record and are absolutely desperate for a win. The Jets come into this game 2-0 and coming off a week where they picked up their biggest win in the past few years. Overall, I see this being another close game as both defenses will come to play. The Jets defense comes into the game ranked #1 in the league in yards allowed and has yet to give up an offensive touchdown. Anyway, here are a few thoughts about this weeks game.

• The most important unit in this game is the Titans secondary. They are coming off a week where the Texans decimated them with the pass. The Matt Schaub/Andre Johnson duo recovered after a tough first week against the Jets and made Cortland Finnegan and the Titans secondary look terrible. A key to this game is opening up the offense early and letting Sanchez throw. There will not be much room to run in this game as the Titans still have a great, attacking defensive line. The Jets must open up the offense earlier than last week (when Sanchez only threw 5 times in the first half) and let him take his shots down the field.

• In order to win this game the Jets will need to contain Chris Johnson. Rex Ryan stated in his press conference that the easiest way to stop this guy is to hit him before he gets moving. When Johnson breaks through the the first layer he is near impossible to stop in the open field. The Jets must stop Johnson in the backfield and I think they have a good chance of doing that with Kris Jenkins clogging up the middle.

• Mark Sanchez will have to have a great game in order for the Jets to win this one. The defense will show up and hold the Titans down but the offense is going to need a lot more production than last week if the Jets hope to win this game. I expect to see a more opened up offense in the first half as the Jets will test the Titans secondary. Sanchez is going to have to be accurate and will have to use his uncanny ability to throw on the move if he hopes to escape the pressure from the Titans defensive line.
  

Players to Watch:

• Lito Shepherd and Donald Strickland. Ok, so it might be a little hard to be a "player to watch" if your not going to be on the field. However, the presence of at least one of these guys is going to be needed on Sunday. From the last thing I heard it sounds like Shepherd will play and Strickland will not. This will thrust Drew Coleman into a more prominent role and he will have to play above and beyond what he has shown so far. Look for Eric Smith to have a bigger role this week if one or both of these guys are out.

• Leon Washington makes this list every week because he is by far the Jets biggest playmaker. I have a good feeling about a kickoff return TD this week so we will watch out for that. Washington will play a huge factor in the game.

My Game Thoughts:

My prediction? The Jets will win this game in a close battle. Vegas has the Jets as 3 point favorites and I see the game being right around that number. Jay Feely will once again have to make his field goals because opportunities for touchdowns may be limited due to a good Titans defense.

My Prediction:

Jets-17
Titans- 10