The AFC South has been one of the most surprising divisions in the NFL this season. Indy has the league's best record through seven games. Their surprising rise to prominence is arguably the best story in the league right right now.
Meanwhile, the Texans have been a disappointment and nobody can be sure what the Jaguars are from week to week. As for the Titans, they've already thrown in the towel after firing head coach Brian Callahan.
But don't be fooled by how lopsided this game looks on paper. Division games always feature a little bit of edge and unpredictability. After all, these are the teams that know each other the best.
Plus, the Colts are in the middle of a truly magical season. That alone is worth your attention. Colts running back Jonathan Taylor explained the special feeling this season has after Week 2.
“I just think that there's a little bit of something extra. Of course, we know that we're honoring Mr. (Jim) Irsay and, of course, we know that he's looking down (on us), and we know that we have a little bit of that blessing on us,” said Taylor in a video shared by WISH-TV News' Angela Moryan.
With all of that said, do the Titans actually have a chance against the Colts? And which players will play the most important roles in this game?
Below we will explore three bold predictions from the Week 8 matchup between the Titans and Colts.
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Daniel Jones keeps rolling against lowly Titans defense
Danny Dimes is gone and Indiana Jones has taken his place.
Jones is in the middle of a complete career renaissance with the Colts in 2025.
The veteran quarterback already has 1,790 passing yards for 10 touchdowns and only three interceptions. He has a passer rating of 105.9 and a completion percentage of 71.0%, one of the best in the NFL.
At this pace, Jones will most certainly have the best season of his career.
So how will he fare against the Titans?
Tennessee has not played great defense this season, but they are far from being a disaster. Especially when considering the bad situations their offense routinely puts them in.
The Titans allowed 7.3 yards per attempt and 210 passing yards per game through seven games. Those are both in the bottom half of NFL teams, but could be much worse.
Indy will certainly lean on their running game in this one (more on that in a second), but I think there will be space for Jones to put together a great game passing too.
I'm predicting that Jones will have 250+ passing yards, one rushing touchdown, and will remain efficient with his QBR and completion percentage.
Jonathan Taylor has more rushing yards, touchdowns than Titans
Indy is finally seeing the version of Taylor that the NFL fell in love with back in 2021.
The veteran running back has been the engine of Indy's offense. He has 131 carries for 697 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns through seven games this season.
The Colts are making it very easy for Taylor, allowing him to get plenty of yards before contact and remain incredibly efficient. In fact, he is averaging 5.3 yards per carry and has not had lower than 3.9 yards per carry in any game this season.
Taylor has also been a touchdown machine, scoring three touchdowns in three separate games this season. That includes his Week 3 domination of the Titans, where he had 17 carries for 102 yards and three touchdowns.
He's even put himself in Jim Brown territory after his impressive start to the season.
“Colts making weekly history,” Holder posted on X. “Here's some: Jonathan Taylor became the 4th player with three separate games with 3 rushing TDs within his team’s first 7 games. The others: Jim Brown (1958), Priest Holmes (2004), and Derrick Henry (2021). Crazy.”
Let's go big with this week's prediction.
I am predicting that Taylor will have more rushing yards and rushing touchdown than the Titans in Week 8.
But exactly how bold is that prediction?
When just looking at rushing yards, Taylor actually accomplished this four times already this season. So adding that rushing touchdowns portion gives this some extra juice.
Colts beat Titans, but only by one score
It can be easy to forget that the Titans are still a legitimate NFL team despite their terrible start to the season.
Much of the news around Tennessee focuses on which player will not be traded away ahead of the NFL's trade deadline. And stories about Tyler Lockett requesting a release do not help the perception that the Titans are a sinking ship.
While all of that can be true, it does not doom the Titans to lose the rest of their games this season.
It can be incredibly difficult to predict “trap games” ahead of time, especially when it means a team like the Titans getting a win. I won't go that far this week, but I think this game could be much more competitive than it is currently being billed.
I'm predicting that Tennessee will keep this a close game and only lose by one score.
That is by far the boldest prediction on this list, as the Titans have only lost by that margin one time this season (20-12 against Denver in Week 1).
