Week 1 of the NFL season will come to a close in Denver on Monday night.

On the heels of several notable debuts on Sunday, it will be Jadeveon Clowney’s turn to take the field with his new team for the first time when the Tennessee Titans visit the Denver Broncos in the second game of a Monday Night Football doubleheader (10:15 pm ET/7:15 pm PT, TSN 1, TSN3, TSN4, TSN5).

The Titans signed Clowney to a one-year deal worth up to $15 million deal with the hope that he can help them build on last year’s AFC Championship game appearance.

While Clowney’s performance will be talked about a lot tonight, Tennessee’s real edge will come from its overall depth and continuity with most of the key contributors from last year’s team back in the fold.

Meanwhile, there will be a familiar face missing on the other side of the field tonight.

Broncos linebacker Von Miller, who has an NFL-best 106 sacks since entering the league in 2011, was placed on injured reserve after he suffered an ankle injury in practice.

With fellow linebacker Bradley Chubb already expected to be limited on a snap count in his return from an ACL injury, Denver’s pass rush could be somewhat limited against the Titans in the final game of Week 1.

Tennessee Titans at Denver Broncos

Line: Titans -3

Total: 41.5

Remember The Titans

One of the biggest question marks heading into this season is how high the ceiling is for the Titans.

Tennessee re-signed quarterback Ryan Tannehill and running back Derrick Henry to long-term deals following upset wins over the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens in last year’s playoffs.

There is no guarantee that tandem will ever provide the Titans with better performances than they did over the second half of last season.

At the same time, we can be optimistic about the floor of a Tennessee side that should be a playoff contender once again.

When these teams met in Week 6 of 2019, Tannehill came off the bench for Marcus Mariota in a 16-0 loss to Denver.

He went on to throw for 2,742 yards and 22 touchdowns while winning seven of his 10 regular season starts to lead the Titans back to the postseason.

And 42.5 per cent of Tannehill’s passing yard production came off play-action attempts last season – the highest rate in the NFL.

I fully expect offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, who I think is one of the most underrated coordinators in the league, to go right back to what worked so well for Tennessee last season and rely heavily on the play-action passing game.

Tannehill avoids having to face Miller and Chubb at full strength, but he will have to navigate the challenges that come with playing at altitude in Denver.

Look for the Titans to continue to pound the rock and rely heavily on the play-action game to open up some holes in this Broncos’ defence.

Far From A Lock

There are also question marks about the ceiling of quarterback Drew Lock and a talented but relatively inexperienced cast of playmakers.

Lock solidified his role as the Broncos’ starter when he went 4-1 in five starts to close out the 2019 season.

However, he threw for more than 208 passing yards only once in his five starts, averaging just 6.5 yards per pass attempt.

General manager John Elway did his best to surround Lock with as many playmakers as possible this off-season, signing running back Melvin Gordon and drafting wide receivers Jerry Jeudy and K.J. Hamler in the first and second round respectively.

However, Lock could be without his best weapon for tonight’s season opener.

Courtland Sutton is dealing with a shoulder injury that could sideline him. He’s officially listed as questionable to play tonight.

With no preseason action and Sutton either limited or out, expectations should be lowered for the Denver offence.

The Line

In Week 6 last season, these teams combined for a single touchdown as the Broncos won 16-0.

Mariota started for Tennessee.

Joe Flacco played for Denver.

A lot has changed since then.

While Tannehill and Lock offer a lot more upside than Mariota and Flacco, this will be the first time we see them this season, so it’s unrealistic to expect either offence to be in midseason form.

With the total for this game set at 41, Vegas is expecting this to be another low-scoring affair.

This game essentially opened as a pick ’em but the number has since moved all the way to Tennessee -3.

While the injuries to Miller and Sutton certainly played into it, the Titans are the better team on paper regardless so I would have expected some movement before kickoff.

I’ll take Tennessee to win outright and lean towards them covering as three-point favourites on the road.

Pick: Tennessee

ATS Pick: Tennessee -3

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