Colts vs. Titans 2019 Prediction: Jacoby Brissett, Indy Upset Marcus Mariota, Tennessee In Week 2

The Tennessee Titans host the Indianapolis Colts in a key AFC South matchup Sunday afternoon. The home team is favored with its sights set on starting the 2019 NFL season 2-0, but it could be the visiting Colts that come away with the victory.

Tennessee is laying three points at Nissan Stadium, according to the latest betting line at OddsShark. The game total is 44.

The Titans were the biggest underdogs to pull off an upset in Week 1, comfortably beating the Cleveland Browns on the road 43-13. The Colts suffered an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Chargers 30-24.

Despite the final scores, those two games provided reasons to believe Indianapolis will beat Tennessee in Week 2.

The Colts were odds-on favorites to win the division before Andrew Luck retired. Expectations for the team immediately plummeted when Jacoby Brissett became the starting quarterback. Indianapolis’ ability to be in playoff contention hinges largely on the signal caller.

Even in defeat, Brissett gets a passing grade for his Week 1 performance.

Brissett only threw for 190 yards in Los Angeles, but he was efficient with 21 completions on 27 attempts. The quarterback had two touchdowns with no interceptions for a 120.7 passer rating.

Brissett wasn’t given any chance to succeed when he was thrust into the starting role two years ago shortly after being acquired by the Colts in a trade. Now that he’s got one of the league’s best offensive lines, some playmakers and a terrific offensive head coach, the 26-year-old can be an average quarterback, at worst.

Marcus Mariota has been decidedly average for much of his career. It’s even possible that the Colts still have the edge at quarterback after Luck’s departure.

Mariota put up good numbers in the season opener, throwing for 248 yards, three scores and a 133.3 passer rating. Don’t expect him to have a repeat performance Sunday.

Mariota had consecutive games with a triple-digit passer rating just once last season. He didn’t do it at all in 2017, posting a passer rating north of 100.0 twice all year.

Cleveland put a decent amount of pressure on Mariota, who only attempted 24 passes but was sacked four times. That could be a theme again in Week 2 with left tackle Taylor Lewan set to miss another game with a suspension. The Colts sacked Philip Rivers four times in the opener.

The Titans beat the Browns going away because Cleveland committed 18 penalties and Baker Mayfield threw three interceptions. Tennessee won’t have that same advantage against Indianapolis.

No team committed fewer than the Colts’ three penalties in Week 1. Brissett has a historically low interception rate, getting picked off on just 1.3 percent of his career throws. Aaron Rodgers, by comparison, throws an interception on every 1.4 percent of his attempts.

Sunday’s contest will be the first matchup between the AFC South teams since Indianapolis won in Tennessee in last year’s regular-season finale to clinch a wild-card berth. The Colts swept the season series with the Titans, continuing their dominance over their division rivals.

Indianapolis is 13-2 against Tennessee in their last 15 meetings. The Colts have covered the spread 12 times during that span, according to OddsShark.

Both of the Titans’ wins against the Colts in that time came in 2017 with Brissett under center. This is a much better Indianapolis team, and they’ll prove it with a big road win Sunday.

Prediction Against The Spread: Indianapolis over Tennessee, 24-16