The shorthanded Tennessee Titans face a tall task against the Los Angeles Chargers on Nov. 2 at Nissan Stadium.
Tennessee (1-7) has already ruled out defensive starters Jeffery Simmons, Arden Key and Xavier Woods for the game, along with receiver Calvin Ridley.
The Chargers (5-3) is coming off a Thursday Night Football win against Minnesota. Justin Herbert leads the NFL in passing yards and is tied for 3rd in the league in touchdown passes.
Tennessee has a bye week upcoming next week, a chance to re-assess the health of the roster post-trade deadline.
Here are the Tennessean’s expert picks for Titans-Chargers:
Nick Suss, Titans beat reporter
Chargers 28, Titans 10
Don’t expect the miracle. The Chargers are the far better team and are catching a Titans squad that’s more likely to sell further pieces before this game than they are to figure out how to play as one. Not even the trip east can trip up these Chargers.
Gentry Estes, columnist
Chargers 34, Titans 16
The Titans are still too banged-up to get a game they probably wouldn’t win if they were healthy.
Nick Gray, trending reporter
Chargers 31, Titans 10
Cam Ward is at least throwing a minimum of 200 yards per game, but those have been empty calories. Justin Herbert should have an easy time of it against the Titans’ decimated secondary.
Tom Kreager, Tennessean sports director
Chargers 34, Titans 14
Coach Jim Harbaugh comes to town this week and takes advantage of a bad Titans roster that is getting worse thanks to injuries and trades. The question at this point is whether the Titans land the No. 1 draft pick two years in a row, or get at least a top-three pick.