Tennessee (2-11) at San Francisco (9-4)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EST, Fox.
BetMGM NFL Odds: 49ers by 12 1/2.
Against the spread: Titans 6-7; 49ers 8-5.
Series record: 49ers lead 9-6.
Last meeting: Titans beat 49ers 20-17 Dec. 23, 2021, in Nashville, Tennessee.
Last week: Titans beat Browns 31-29; 49ers beat the Browns 26-8 before bye.
Titans offense: overall (32), rush (31), pass (31), scoring (31).
Titans defense: overall (26), rush (18), pass (23), scoring (29).
49ers offense: overall (12), rush (25), pass (6), scoring (16).
49ers defense: overall (20), rush (12), pass (25), scoring (8).
Turnover differential: Titans minus-5; 49ers minus-4.
RB Tony Pollard. The veteran is coming off the best game of his NFL career after rushing for 161 yards and also scoring two touchdowns. He averaged 6.4 yards per carry last week.
DL Clelin Ferrell. The Niners signed Ferrell off the street in October and he has provided a needed boost to the pass rush. He had two sacks in his last game and four in his last four games to tie Bryce Huff for the team lead in sacks. San Francisco is last in the league with 20 sacks, while the Titans have allowed the second most with 49.
Titans rookie QB Cam Ward against the 49ers' defense. He was sacked just once last week with the Titans finding ways to keep Myles Garrett out of his face. The No. 1 overall pick still isn't happy with how Tennessee played in a rare win, determined to keep improving.
Titans: C Lloyd Cushenberry (injured foot) and CB Jalyn Armour Davis (Achilles' tendon) both are practicing trying to return after missing two straight games. ... DT Shy Tuttle practiced fully Wednesday after missing the last two games in the concussion protocol.
49ers: LB Tatum Bethune and DE Sam Okuayinonu are expected to miss the game with ankle injuries. ... K Eddy Pineiro (hamstring) will return after missing two games. ... DE Yetur Gross-Matos could be back this week for the first time since injuring his hamstring in Week 5.
The 49ers have split two games against the Titans under coach Kyle Shanahan, winning at home in 2017 and losing on the road in 2021. ... Tennessee's last road win in the series came in 2009. ... Titans interim coach Mike McCoy is 1-0 against San Francisco from his tenure coaching the Chargers.
Both of the Titans' wins have come on the road this season. Tennessee has not won consecutive games since Nov. 13 and 17, 2022. ... The Titans started five rookies for the third straight game last week and fourth overall this season. ... Ward leads all rookie quarterbacks with 2,468 yards passing and is second with nine TD passes. ... Rookie WR Chimere Dike had a TD catch last week and has a TD catch in two of his past three games. He also leads the NFL in all-purpose yards with 1,984. ... The Titans have 23 sacks since Week 7, fifth-most in the NFL in that span. ... DT Jeffery Simmons has a sack in three of his past four games and eight for the season. He needs one more sack for a career high. He had seven tackles, two for losses, 1 1/2 sacks and batted down a pass last week. ... LB Cedric Gray had a team-high 10 tackles last week and a fumble recovery. ... S Xavier Woods had an interception last week. ... Rookie CB Marcus Harris forced his first career fumble last week. ... San Francisco is seeking its first four-game winning streak since winning six straight in 2023. ... The 49ers are 5-3 after the bye under Shanahan with wins the last three seasons. ... San Francisco has won eight straight against rookie starting QBs since losing twice to Arizona's Josh Rosen in 2018. ... The 32.9 yard average starting field position for the 49ers is the best in the NFL. They have scored six of their 10 TDs the past three games on drives that started in opposing territory with four starting in the red zone. ... San Francisco has held back-to-back opponents to fewer than 10 points for the first time since doing it three straight games from Weeks 5 to 7 in 2019. ... Niners RB Christian McCaffrey has 838 yards rushing and 806 yards receiving. MarshallFaulk (1998) and Roger Craig (1985) are the only other players with at least 800 yards of each in a team’s first 13 games of a season. ... Pineiro is 22 for 22 on FGs this season and San Francisco has matched a franchise record with 12 straight games without a missed FG.
Niners WR Jauan Jennings has gotten healthy in recent weeks and has caught a TD pass in four of his last five games. He has at least four catches in seven straight games. He also grew up near Nashville.
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