Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans
This seems like a tremendous mismatch on paper. Tennessee, who has struggled a great deal on the offensive side of the ball, came through with their first win of the season against the Detroit Lions last week.

They now go up against one of the most well-balanced offenses in the National Football League. Try to stop Ben Tate/Arian Foster in the backfield and Matt Schaub will beat you in the passing game with Andre Johnson and company.  Play nickel/dime defense and they will eat you apart on the ground. This is going to be problematic for a Titans’ defense that is allowing over 37 points and 463 yards per game thus far in 2012.

Offensively, this game will be placed on the shoulder(s) of Jake Locker. There is no reason to believe that Chris Johnson is going to be breakout unless he finds a Texas-sized slumpbuster sometime prior to the game. The enigmatic running back is going up against a defense that is giving up 61 yards on average. Really not the dynamics that show Tennessee has a flying chance in hell to win this game. Sorry!

Fantasy Impact

It won’t come as a surprise to read the following....Don’t even think about starting Chris Johnson here. I know that this might go without saying considering how he has performed this season and who he is going up against, but some people are still holding out hope for a breakout performance. It just isn’t going to happen this week against Houston. In fact, I would avoid every single Titan’ offensive player here outside of Jared Cook, who might get targeted a lot as Jake Locker’s favorite target.

In terms of Houston, it is pretty obvious who you look at starting......Everyone and their mother. Both Arian Foster and Ben Tate are sure bets to put up solid RB1 numbers. Meanwhile, the Matt Schaub-to-Andre Johnson connection should be flying high on Sunday. Buy high on Houston here.

Cincinnati Bengals at Jacksonville Jaguars

I could be in the minority here, but Jacksonville has a solid chance to win this game. They are going to be going up against a Bengals’ defense that has struggled a great deal in both aspects of the game. Cincinnati has yielded over 415 yards per game, including 155 on the ground. Look for Maurice Jones-Drew to pick up where he left off after a 177-yard performance against the Indianapolis Colts last week.

Blaine Gabbert has also improved a great deal from his rookie season. The young quarterback has thrown four touchdowns compared to zero interceptions for a respectable 85.7 quarterback rating in the first three games of the season. Consequently, the former first-round pick should excel against a disastrous Cincinnati pass defense that has allowed opposing quarterbacks to put up a 110.2 quarterback rating over the course of the first three games.

Don’t get me wrong, the Jaguars definitely have defensive issues themselves and will be going up against one of the most dynamic offenses in the National Football League. The Andy Dalton-to-A.J. Green connection has been nothing short of spectacular since both were drafted by Cincinnati in the 2011 NFL Draft. Green has over 300 yards through the first three games, while Dalton has an absurd 105 quarterback rating during that span.
In short, you can definitely expect a high scoring game here. Neither defense will be able to hold their ground here, in the case of Jones-Drew, quite literally. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jacksonville hang in this game late and possibly come out with a win at home.

Fantasy  Impact

Honestly, we are probably looking at three viable starting options here. Dalton and Green for Cincinnati and Jones-Drew for Jacksonville, though a high scoring affair could be a bunch more stars on both sides of the ball. BenJarvus Green-Ellis is a strong possibility as a RB2/Flex option.

Moreover, there could be some thought of starting either Laurent Robinson or Justin Blackmon here considering how depleted and utterly under-performing the Bengals’ secondary has been thus far.

Bye Week: Indianapolis Colts