Game Prediction: TEN 30, JAX 14

The Titans swept the Jaguars last season and can do it again since Tennessee is even better and the Jaguars may be worse. The only thing that will prevent this from becoming an air war is if Tennessee gets a sizable early lead and decides to play around with the George/Holcombe rotation more.

Tennessee Notes

Tennessee stands at 5-2, only a half game behind the Colts in the AFC South. The Titans decimated unbeaten Carolina last week.

Quarterbacks: Steve McNair had the odd low output last week, gaining only 190 yards but scoring on a touchdown to Drew Bennett and rushing one in as well. With the game well in hand, there was no need to throw and the running game started working enough that the Titans just wanted to run out the clock.

Running Backs: Eddie George gained 51 yards on 18 carries but the new feature was using Robert Holcombe as both a fullback and a running back. He had 16 carries for 53 yards and signals the reality that George is going to be phased out eventually. George actually commented that he thought Holcombe ran well and that he was not bothered about the sharing the rushing load. Against Jacksonville this should continue.

Chris Brown has a bad hamstring that was re-injured late last week and he will likely miss this week as well.

Wide Receivers: After a few weeks of astronomic passing yards, the Titans went to the run and took the wideouts largely out of the picture. Drew Bennett was the lead receiver with four catches for 97 yards and a score and he is the slow, possession guy. Justin McCareins (1-17), Tyrone Calico (1-20) and even Derrick Mason (2-39) were not needed. That should change this week though not to the extent that Tennessee will need to darken the skies with footballs.

Tight Ends: Erron Kinney had two catches and Frank Wycheck may return in a week or two.

Match against the defense: The Jaguars have been only an average rushing defense this season but the Titans have not present much in the way of a ground game until last week. George ran for 89 and 119 yards against the Jaguars last season but has lost a gear since then. Together, George and Holcombe should approach those numbers.

The exciting matchup is the passing game where the Jaguars have been torched by opponents when they had to pass. Bledsoe (314-2), Manning (216-2) and Brees (296-3) have all had nice games. Remember - this is the defense that allowed Boston to gain 181 yards and two scores. This is where Reggie Wayne had 141 yards and two scores. Eric Moulds and Bobby Shaw combined to gain 214 yards and two scores against this secondary.

McNair should have a nice game here and have success with longer passes as he did in previous weeks.

Jacksonville Notes

The Jaguars are 1-5 and have lost one player to a lockerroom incident involving an ax. Their most recent spanking was administered by Miami and they were on their much needed bye last week.

Quarterbacks: Who cares that they lose - Byron Leftwich still has not failed to score in every game he has started. Last game against the Fins he only managed 256 yards and scored on a rare rushing attempt. He actually gained 24 yards on five carries but his style continues to be in the pocket throwing like a madman.

Running Backs: Fred Taylor was stuffed by the Fins last week - 35 yards on only 14 carries and this week goes against a team that just held Stephen Davis to only 20 yards on 11 carries. Notable though is the use of Taylor in the passing scheme by Leftwich. Against Miami, Taylor had eight receptions for 64 yards and the previous week he turned three catches into 77 yards and one score.

Wide Receivers: Jimmy Smith cooled from his week 5 return of 137 yards to only 65 yards in week six. Still, Smith has 12 throws in each game and has 14 catches for 202 yards in his two games back. Troy Edwards had eight passes last game and caught three for 29 yards. Matthew Hatchette is receiving less throws as Edwards has grown in use.

Tight Ends: Kyle Brady is good for the odd catch, but still has no touchdowns this season.

Match against the defense: This has the markings of some good passing, if only late trash throws in desperation. The Titans should be able to handle Fred Taylor who topped out at only 59 yards against them last season and once Tennessee gets the lead, Leftwich will be dropping back.

This should lead to nice numbers to Jimmy Smith if only as a product of his volume and Edwards and even Hatchette could get nice catches.

* Fantasy point rankings calculated using standard Huddle fantasy points