Having spent more than a couple of years living in Tennessee -- dead in the heart of Vols' country and quite a way from Nashville, but even so, in an area that paid attention to the Titans when they weren't following the Falcons or the Panthers -- I thought it might be good to look at the preview for today's game from the perspective of 'The Tennessean' in Nashville.
Jim Wyatt, one of the paper's writers, gives a slight edge to the Browns (as do the odds-makers) and sees the biggest intangible as the home crowd at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Wyatt compiles this look at some numbers for today:
- 100 Consecutive starts for Titans OT Michael Roos (with this game)
- 4-1 Titans’ record in last five games at Cleveland
- 21 Career 300-yard passing games for Titans QB Matt Hasselbeck
- 136 Rushing yards for Titans RB Chris Johnson in his only game vs. Browns (2008)
- 17.8 Titans WR Nate Washington’s career average per catch vs. Browns
- 9 Touchdowns for Browns RB Peyton Hillis in nine home games
- 10 Yards Browns TE Ben Watson to reach 3,000 for his career
- 11 Sacks for Browns defense this season (leads AFC)
- 6 Tackles Titans LB Will Witherspoon needs to reach 1,000 for his career
Two of three writers take the Titans to win today, one by a score of 24-17, and another by a score of 20-16, while John Glennon picks the Browns to prevail 17-13.
Hope you're right John!
The website is worth a look, and I am inclined from this point forward to give you a link to the "enemy camp's" preview every week, so we can all step outside the bubble of Browns' fandom to see how others truly see the games to come.
Go Browns!