The Carolina Panthers remain undefeated coming off a series of impressive wins. Now they hit the road to take on the Tennessee Titans in Nashville on Sunday.
Panthers vs. Titans 2015 live stream: Time, TV schedule and how to watch online
The Panthers take their undefeated record to Nashville to face a Titans team still alive in the AFC South “race.”
Despite being 2-6, the Titans are still alive and well in the AFC South. The Indianapolis Colts’ loss could be their gain with Andrew Luck expected to miss 2-6 weeks with a lacerated kidney. After this week, Tennessee plays two of its next three games against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Titans have a little spring in their step after upsetting the New Orleans Saints on the road. Marcus Mariota came back from a knee injury and went toe-to-toe with Drew Brees in the Superdome, eventually pulling out the overtime win. Mariota had his best game since Week 1, throwing for 371 yards on 28-of-39 passing with four touchdowns and no interceptions.
The Titans fired Ken Whisenhunt and replaced him with Mike Mularkey on an interim basis, and it paid early dividends. Mularkey shuffled the offensive line, which had allowed 19 sacks in Mariota’s other five starts. The result was zero sacks allowed in Week 9.
Another encouraging sign was the long-awaited emergence of Dorial Green-Beckham. With Kendall Wright dealing with an MCL injury, Green-Beckham got his most playing time of the season and finished with five catches for 77 yards on a team-leading 10 targets. Even the running game showed signs of life -- Antonio Andrews had a season-high 88 rushing yards on 19 carries.
While those are all encouraging signs for a young Titans team, one can’t forget that it was against the Saints defense, one of the worst in the league. The Panthers will mark the first real test of whether Mariota and company have truly turned a corner.
Carolina’s defense is 12th in passing yards and 15th in rushing yards allowed per game. Not elite numbers, but the defense simply doesn’t allow chunk plays, giving up just 4.8 yards per play. They’re also tied for fourth with the best turnover differential (plus-six).
Cam Newton continues to play at a high level that doesn’t always show up in the box score. He had four total touchdowns against the Green Bay Packers, throwing for three scores and rushing for one. The running game is tops in the league at 142.3 yards per game, helping to create a functional offense even when Greg Olsen is the only reliable receiving threat.
If there’s one concern for Carolina, it’s the inability to completely put games away. In Week 8, the Panthers jumped out to a 23-6 fourth-quarter lead over the Colts before giving up 17 unanswered points and eventually needing overtime to win. Last week, the Panthers had a 27-7 lead over the Packers, but Aaron Rodgers came alive and Green Bay outscored Carolina 22-10 over the rest of the game. It took a late goal-line stand by the defense to protect the lead.
With a run-first defensive team playing on the road and a young squad still trying to figure itself out, this game could be of the low-scoring variety. The Panthers are early 4.5-point favorites and the over/under is set at just 42.5, according to OddsShark.
How to watch
When: 1 p.m. ET
Where: Nissan Stadium, Nashville
TV: FOX
Announcers: Thom Brennaman, Charles Davis, Tony Siragusa
Online: Verizon NFL Mobile
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