Why Titans Are a Good Bet This Week

After losing their season opener on the road to the Denver Broncos, the Tennessee Titans will return home this weekend and host the Los Angeles Rams. The Titans will look to notch their first win of the season against the Rams, who are coming off a gritty 14-9 victory over the Houston Texans.

According to FanDuel, the Titans open as 5.5-point underdogs to the Rams. Their money line is set at +205, and the over/under is 42.5 points. Betting on the NFL is always tough considering each team is filled with the best football players in the world, but here's why the Titans could be a good bet this weekend.

This year's Titans team is much different than the one that won just three games last year. They have their quarterback of the future in Cam Ward and filled a ton of needs in free agency and through the NFL Draft. They may have opened the season with a loss, but they played the Broncos much closer than many thought they'd be able to, and they did it with a rookie quarterback in a hostile environment.

Let's start with Cam Ward. He played so much better than the box score indicates. He was poised in the pocket, even when he was under pressure (which he was on over half his drop backs). He looked comfortable in the offense, which he showed on his first throw when he knew exactly where his check down would be while under duress, and he was able to pick up a long third down conversion. He also made quite a few big throws, but most of them were dropped by his receivers. Overall, it was a very enouraging debut, and while the Rams defense is no slouch, they're not of the same quality as the Broncos.

Tennessee Titans, QB, Cam War — Sep 7, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward (1) drops back to pass against the Denver Broncos in the first half at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Defensively, the Titans showed they're much better than they were a year ago. They held Sean Payton's offense to just 20 points and caused three turnovers. They pressured Nix on nearly a third of his drop backs, and their secondary looked really good with three players - Xavier Woods, Roger McCreary and L'Jarius Sneed - earned 80+ coverage grades from PFF.

The Rams are a good team. They have a defense that's capable of holding opponents to under 20 points, and they have an offense that, when it's hot, is capable of scoring 30+ points. However, the Rams have shown they're not an elite rushing team, so if the Titans secondary can put the clamps on the Rams' receivers, they can slow Matthew Stafford and the rest of LA's offense down.

The Titans may not win this game, but 5.5 is a lot of points to give a team in their home opener. If Cam Ward can fix some of his mistakes from his debut, the offensive line can hold up a little bit better and the defense can play another good game, watch out for Tennessee this weekend.

Make sure you bookmark Tennessee Titans on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!