With their season seemingly hanging in the balance, the Tennessee Titans return home to Nissan Stadium in what could be a do-or-die game for them against the Dallas Cowboys.
The Titans head into this Thursday Night Football tilt on a five-game losing streak, dropping below .500 with a 19-14 loss to the Houston Texans last Saturday, while the Cowboys got back to winning ways, upsetting the Philadelphia Eagles 40-34.
Match preview
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Oh my, how quickly the tables can turn in the NFL, and there is no better proof of that lately than what we have seen in the Music City.
Weeks ago, Mike Vrabel's team looked to be home and dry, with a comfortable advantage atop the AFC South, seemingly poised to capture that division for a third successive campaign, but their fortunes have changed dramatically of late.
Following the firing of general manager Jon Robinson earlier this month, the Titans have been a mess, with the club currently on its longest losing run since 2015, dropping below the Jacksonville Jaguars for the division lead and scoring fewer than 20 points in four of their last five games.
Morale in Tennessee is understandably low right now, and it could hardly be helped by their performance on Christmas Eve versus one of the worst teams in the NFL, the Houston Texans, as the Titans averaged under five yards per play against the 30th ranked defence in the league while also going 4/12 on third downs.
All season, their bread and butter on the offensive side of the ball has been their running game, and that has not been a problem of late, posting over 100 yards on the ground in three straight games.
Since trading AJ Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles over the off-season, their passing game has looked ordinary at best, putting up a mere 88 yards against the Texans, while they have tossed at least one pick in three consecutive games.
As bad as things look for them right now, though, there is a way out with the easiest path to the playoffs coming in the AFC South, and should they win this game and their regular season finale at Jacksonville, the Titans would be guaranteed a spot in the Wild Card Round.
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Some late-game magic on Saturday in Arlington kept the Cowboys in the hunt to claim the NFC East for a second consecutive season.
It was a role reversal from what we saw from them in Jacksonville a week earlier, as Dallas threw a pick-six to the Eagles on their opening possession and fell behind 10-0 before scoring 13 points in the fourth quarter, eventually winning for the fifth time in the last six games.
Mike McCarthy's defensive line, ranked third in sacks this season (49), have been held in check over the past couple of weeks.
They registered just one versus the Jaguars and failed to get to Eagles backup quarterback Gardner Minshew, who was starting in place of the injured Jalen Hurts on Saturday.
Even though they have tossed at least one interception over the past five weeks, Dallas have moved the ball well through the air of late, throwing three touchdown passes in consecutive games and putting up over 300 yards in that department this past weekend for only the second time all year.
Since early October, their running game has been one of their most consistent attributes offensively, hitting the century mark in every contest since racking up just 62 yards rushing on October 2nd versus the Washington Commanders.
Aside from a 54-19 blowout victory over the Indianapolis Colts, the Cowboys have not had an easy time facing the opposite conference, with three of their four games against AFC opponents being decided by a single score, though Dallas came out on top in three of those outings.
Should they win their final two regular-season encounters before the playoffs commence, it would give them 13 wins on the campaign.
That would exceed their total from 2021-22 by one, and it would be their highest total since accumulating that same amount in 2016-17.
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Team News
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Malik Willis got the start at quarterback for the Titans on Saturday, throwing a pair of interceptions, and completing just 14 passes for 99 yards, Derrick Henry ran for 126 yards and a score, Robert Woods was their leading pass catcher with four grabs for 30 yards and Austin Hooper had multiple catches for an eighth successive encounter.
Henry was one of three Titans selected to the Pro Bowl on Peyton Manning's reserve team, along with defensive end Jeffrey Simmons, while Morgan Cox was chosen as the starting long snapper.
Ryan Tannehill missed their game last week with an ankle sprain, Terrance Mitchell is dealing with a hamstring strain, Kristian Fulton has a sore groin and Dylan Cole also sustained an ankle injury.
After tossing a pick on his opening offensive series last Saturday, Dak Prescott settled into a nice groove throwing a pair of touchdown passes to CeeDee Lamb and one to Michael Gallup, Ezekiel Elliott ran for a score and TY Hilton only had one catch in his Cowboys debut, though it was an important one as it helped his team convert a third and 30, eventually leading to the game-winning score.
Lamb, Tony Pollard and DeMarcus Lawrence were all selected as reserves to Eli Manning's Pro Bowl squad, Trevon Diggs was named the starting cornerback, while Micah Parsons will be a starter at linebacker and KeVontae Turpin is also on the team as a return specialist.
Sam Williams is questionable for this upcoming encounter because of a concussion and neck strain, Leighton Vander Esch could be sidelined with a neck issue, Jayron Kearse continues to struggle with shoulder/back problems and Noah Brown saw limited action versus Philly because of a foot injury.
Head To Head
Thursday will be the first regular-season meeting between these clubs since 2018, when the Titans beat Dallas for the seventh time historically as Marcus Mariota ran for a score and hit Dion Lewis for one in a 28-14 victory.
The Cowboys have beaten them eight times over the years, including the last matchup in Nashville in 2014, as Dan Bailey booted four field goals, DeMarco Murray ran for a score and Tony Romo found Dez Bryant for a three-yard touchdown catch, helping Dallas win 26-10.
Probably the most exciting game between these two franchises occurred over 30 years ago, when the Titans were known as the Houston Oilers.
In that 1991 contest at the Astrodome, Allen Pinkett and Lorenzo White had rushing touchdowns, while Al Del Greco kicked four field goals, including the overtime winner, as Houston came away with a 26-23 triumph.
We say: Tennessee Titans 17-36 Dallas Cowboys
The Titans picked a bad time to start struggling, and without a reliable pass catcher moving the ball could be difficult for them on Thursday
Dallas still make their share of mistakes on offence, but they have the experience to correct them within a game, while their pass rush should find more success in this one facing an offensive line that have allowed four or more sacks in their last four games.
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