San Francisco 49ers vs. Tennessee Titans Thursday Night Football Bet Preview

The Tennessee Titans and San Francisco 49ers both find themselves in playoff spots entering Week 16 of the NFL season. But one of them is going to suffer a loss that they could do without on Thursday night, as they are set to meet in Tennessee.

The 49ers enter as a 3.5-point favorite on the road, but this game could go either way and could drastically impact the playoff chances of both sides.

San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco picked up their second straight win and their fifth win in their last six games in Week 15. They beat the Atlanta Falcons convincingly at home, breaking 30 points in a victory that moved them to 8-6 on the season. Now, solidly in a Wild Card spot, the 49ers will look to keep rolling offensively en route to a win that would put pressure on the rest of the NFC going into the weekend’s games.

The win over the Falcons was the fourth 30-plus point game for the Niners in their last six outings. Their offense is healthy for the most part, allowing Jimmy Garoppolo access to the bulk of his weapons, which has had a clear benefit to the team. But being on the road on a short week of rest isn’t an easy task for any team, and the Niners will have to overcome that barrier in order to win here.

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Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans suffered a tough loss last week to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Tennessee had a lead for a good chunk of that game but committed several second-half turnovers to open the door for the Steelers to steal the game in the fourth quarter. Now, the Titans will hope to get their offense back on track against a Niners team that has been playing very well of late.

Pass protection has been a concern for the Titans in recent weeks, which cost them against Pittsburgh. Without Derrick Henry to chew up yardage on the ground, more emphasis has been placed on the Titans’ passing game. But without the ability to block for Ryan Tannehill as consistently as they’d like, the Titans could be in danger of relinquishing their lead in the AFC South.

Keys To The Game

For the 49ers, the biggest key to this game will be how they start the game. Teams that have to travel across the country and play just a few days after their most recent Sunday game tend to be vulnerable to a slow start on Thursday nights. If the Niners can avoid falling behind, they should be able to remain in a position to win throughout.

Tennessee’s biggest key to this game is finding a way to finish drives without Derrick Henry there to make it easy on them. Losing both Henry and AJ Brown makes it so much more difficult for a team to find the end zone from scoring range. But teams aren’t going to make it easy on the Titans just because they are going through some roster adversity, and the Titans have to figure out a way to score more before they find themselves on the chopping block in the AFC.