Dolphins look to stretch winning streak to four games when they host Titans in prime time

Updated Dec. 9, 2023 5:34 p.m. ET

Associated Press

TENNESSEE (4-8) at MIAMI (9-3)

Monday, 8:15 p.m. EST, ESPN

OPENING LINE: Dolphins by 13 1/2, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

AGAINST THE SPREAD: Titans 5-7; Dolphins 8-4

LAST MEETING: Titans won 34-3 on Jan. 2, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn.

LAST WEEK: Titans lost to Colts 31-28 in OT; Dolphins beat Commanders 45-15.

TITANS OFFENSE: OVERALL (25), RUSH (17), PASS (27), SCORING (25T)

TITANS DEFENSE: OVERALL (17), RUSH (13), PASS (22), SCORING (16T)

DOLPHINS OFFENSE: OVERALL (1), RUSH (2), PASS (1), SCORING (2)

DOLPHINS DEFENSE: OVERALL (6), RUSH (8), PASS (9), SCORING (21)

TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Titans minus-4; Dolphins minus-4.

TITANS PLAYER TO WATCH: Derrick Henry. The two-time NFL rushing champ finished with 102 yards and had his second-straight game with two rushing TDs despite being pulled early in the fourth quarter for a concussion evaluation. He ranks second in the NFL with 841 yards rushing and has eight TDs rushing. Henry is tied for 15th with Priest Holmes with 86 rushing TDs.

DOLPHINS PLAYER TO WATCH: Tyreek Hill. The NFL's leading receiver had five catches for 157 yards and two long touchdowns last week against the Commanders. It was his eighth time this season getting at least 100 yards receiving and a touchdown in a game — no other player entered Week 13 with more than three such games. His 1,481 receiving yards this season are the second most in any season in Miami's history.

KEY MATCHUP: Titans quarterback Will Levis vs. Dolphins defense. The Titans rookie quarterback was sacked six times against the Colts last week and will face a Dolphins defense that is tied for third in the NFL with 41 sacks this season. Miami's defense held Washington's Sam Howell, who entered as the NFL's leading passer, to a career-low 127 yards passing. The Dolphins have dealt with several injuries to their defense in the past couple of weeks, but have held their opponent to under 300 yards in five straight games.

KEY INJURIES: The Titans will be without two-time Pro Bowl DL Jeffery Simmons and TE Josh Whyle because of knee injuries. CB Kristian Fulton is out with a hamstring issue. P Ryan Stonehouse needs season-ending surgery after a rusher crashed into his left, non-kicking leg in last week’s loss. … The Dolphins placed starting LB Jerome Baker on injured reserve with a knee injury. ... Dolphins S Jevon Holland could return after missing last week with knee injuries. Coach Mike McDaniel said the time off helped him, but the team wants to be cautious with his return. ... LT Terron Armstead will be questionable with a knee injury. ... RG Rob Hunt will not play after aggravating a hamstring injury last week.

SERIES NOTES: In the previous matchup between these two teams, the Titans clinched their second straight AFC South title with a 34-3 win. Tua Tagovailoa was sacked four times in the game. ... The previous time the Titans visited Hard Rock Stadium was in Week 1 of the 2018 season. The Dolphins won that matchup, which took 7 hours, 8 minutes to play because of two lightning delays. Mike Vrabel was in his first season as the Titans head coach and Ryan Tannehill was Miami's starter.

STATS AND STUFF: The Titans are one of two NFL teams still winless on the road this season. They are 0-6 and have lost nine straight going back to a Nov. 17, 2022, win at Green Bay. They have lost 10 straight away from Nashville with an Oct. 15 loss to Baltimore in London technically a Titans home game. ... Vrabel will coach his 100th career game, including playoffs, with the Titans. Only Jeff Fisher (273) has reached that mark with this franchise. … Titans rookie QB Will Levis is 2-4 as a starter since replacing veteran QB Ryan Tannehill, who started his career in Miami. Levis has gone three games without throwing an interception. He has completed 107 of 185 for 1,266 yards with seven TDs and two interceptions. … Levis is averaging 11.83 yards per completion in his six starts. That ranks seventh in the NFL and third most in the AFC since Week 8. … WR DeAndre Hopkins leads the Titans with 50 catches for 774 yards and five TDs. Hopkins became the fifth NFL player with at least 900 receptions (903), 12,000 receiving yards (12,072) and 75 receiving TDs (76) within his first 11 seasons. With a catch Monday night in his 158th game, he will tie Marshall Faulk for the third-longest streak to start a career in NFL history trailing only Marvin Harrison (190) and Keyshawn Johnson (167). … DL Denico Autry had a sack last week to tie his career high with nine sacks this season. … K Nick Folk has made an NFL-record 75 straight field goals on attempts of less than 40 yards. … The Titans are second in the NFL in red zone defense, giving up 16 TDs on 43 red zone drives by opponents for a rate of 37.2%. They held the Colts to one TD on five red zone possessions with all goal-to-go. ... The Dolphins haven't had a four-game winning streak this season. ... Miami will play at home on Monday night for the first time since 2017. This will be the Dolphins' 87th all time appearance on “Monday Night Football,” which is the most in NFL history. ... A win would give the Dolphins' double-digit victories for just the third time since 2008. They won 10 games in 2016 and 2020. ... Miami has lost just two home games since Nov. 7, 2021 ... The Dolphins lead the NFL with the most plays of 10+ yards (188), 25+ yards (39) and 50+ yards (10). ... Tua Tagovailoa is third in the NFL in passer rating (106.0), tied for second in passing touchdowns (24), second in yards per attempt (8.6) and third in yards passing (3,457). His passing yards total is the third most in franchise history through the first 12 games of a season behind Dan Marino in 1984 and 1986. ... Hill has 1,481 yards and 12 touchdowns entering Week 14, both of which lead the NFL. ... Hill's 1,481 yards receiving are also second most in franchise history and just 229 yards shy of his record of 1,710 set in his first season with Miami in 2022. ... RB De’Von Achane rushed for two touchdowns in his return from a knee injury last week. His nine total touchdowns are tied with RB Gale Sayers for the second most by a player in his first six games in NFL history.

FANTASY TIP: Henry will start a third straight game behind the same offensive line, with the Titans having used eight different starting combinations this season. He averages 94.7 yards rushing in prime-time games. That’s the highest mark in the NFL since 2000 for running backs with a minimum of 10 games.

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