The Miami Dolphins got it done in Week 16 to keep their playoff hopes alive, but they face the Tennessee Titans in an interesting matchup in Week 17. With the playoff picture emerging, let’s take a look at the Miami Dolphins vs. Tennessee Titans matchup and make an NFL betting pick and prediction.
Miami Dolphins vs. Tennessee Titans pick, prediction | Week 17
- Spread: Titans -3 (Odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook)
- Moneyline: Titans -155, Dolphins +135
- Over/Under: 41
Tua and the Dolphins to force Week 18 spectacle?
The Dolphins went out against a depleted Saints team — in New Orleans — and they executed. They’ve gone from 1-7 to 8-7 and have become the only NFL team in history to have both a seven-game losing streak and a seven-game winning streak in the same season.
Miami will be kicking themselves for dropping games like the London match against Jacksonville, losing to a last-second field goal. They then conceded a loss to the Falcons the following week. If they hadn’t dropped those two winnable games, they’d be cruising into the playoffs right now.
[bet-bonus id=”164810″ ]The offensive line is still poor, and the run game needs a lot of work. Duke Johnson has offered them a spark in the last couple of weeks, but Miami has deeper-rooted issues with running the football and building a competent line.
With two games left, Miami needs to win them both. If they can get past Tennessee this weekend, it’ll be a Tua/Mac Jones rematch in Week 18 for a shot at the playoffs. Now, that would be intense.
Tannehill’s Titans are getting healthier, or not…
The Titans have missed their stars this season. They traded for Julio Jones in the offseason. The plan was to have Julio, A.J. Brown, and Derrick Henry bullying defenses all year. As it’s transpired, they’ve been unable to keep all three of them on the field together for most of the year, with all three missing significant time.
Brown came back this week, and he was as electric as ever for the Titans’ offense. Brown totaled 145 yards receiving and a touchdown, while Julio had just 1 catch for a 7-yard gain. Additionally, Jones has now been placed on the COVID-19 list, and he’s likely out for the Dolphins game.
Tennessee has struggled without any real depth to their offense. They signed Adrian Peterson midseason after losing Derrick Henry because their running back room is so shallow — only to release AP again.
Outside of Brown, the depth at receiver is also lacking any real weight. That could be a major factor against a strong Dolphins defense with an elite secondary.
Dolphins vs. Titans betting trends
The Dolphins have won six of their last seven against the spread (ATS). The only one they dropped was a 7-point win against a 10.5-point spread against the Jets. Outside of that, they’ve been flawless ATS while on the winning streak. They face the Titans as a 3-point underdog, which marks the third time they’ve been the underdog during their winning streak. They won and covered in the other two.
The Titans have hit three unders in a row, having scored 20 points or less in all three games. They won two of those, shutting out the Jaguars and beating the Niners last weekend in a close 20-17 win. These low-scoring games are not what we’re used to from the Titans. However, that is unlikely to change until we see the return of Derrick Henry in the postseason.
Dolphins vs. Titans prediction
This one comes down to who the Titans expect to make the plays offensively. The Dolphins have an elite secondary that will key on Brown all day and force Tannehill to try and win the game through other options around him. There are not many of those, and I can see this ending up a frustrating day for the Titans.
Miami needs to execute and get the ball in the hands of their difference-makers to get the job done. If Tua can manage the game effectively and he’s given enough time to survey the field, I think Miami gets the win. Tennessee has struggled to rush the passer, and Tua does well when he has time to be the accurate pocket passer he wants to be. I’d be confident in betting the under in this game, too.
Dolphins vs. Titans Score Prediction: Dolphins 21, Titans 13