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The Detroit Lions have never defeated the Tennessee Titans. As unlikely as that might seem, it’s a fact that dates back to the beginning of the 21st century.
That should change in Week 8. Should…
The Lions are favored on Sunday by more points in a game than they have been since before the Titans existed in Nashville. The line is now 11.5 points in Detroit’s favor, and that could very well go up now that the Titans have traded starting WR DeAndre Hopkins and top LB Ernest Jones this week.
That six-game losing streak to the Titans won’t erase itself, however. In the last meeting inside Ford Field, the Lions were six-point favorites. That was Week 2 of the 2016 season, Jim Caldwell’s final year coaching Detroit. The Mike Mularkey-coached Titans eked out a 16-15 win by scoring the final 13 points, all in the fourth quarter.
Because the Titans kept all the franchise records in their move from Houston, the series includes Tennessee’s decades as the Oilers, too. The Lions did beat the Oilers back in 1995 in the old Astrodome. That game featured two touchdown catches by Herman Moore from Scott Mitchell and 10 combined turnovers in a 24-17 Lions win that happened to be one of Barry Sanders’ worst career games (54 yards on 19 carries).
The Lions have only ever won one home game against the franchise, beating the Oilers in Week 5 of the 1986 season. Going back to that game some 38 years ago, it presents a cautionary tale for how this year’s heavily-favored Lions can avoid a stunning upset.
The box score says Houston dominated Detroit that day. Warren Moon threw for 398 yards for the Oilers, while Eric Hipple managed 93 in the air. However, the Lions picked off Moon three times, twice inside the Detroit 5-yard line. Grinding out 158 rushing yards on 47 carries — a figure they’ve not since topped — Daryl Rogers’ Lions ground Jerry Glanville’s run-and-shoot Oilers into submission.
That is the most sensical way the Titans can keep their unblemished record against Detroit intact–keep the Lions offense off the field and have Jared Goff make uncharacteristic mistakes. The odds say that’s an extreme longshot, and the Lions should end one of the weirder team vs. team anomalies in the NFL on Sunday.