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Running backs Henry, Taylor will fuel Titans-Colts rematch

By The Associated Press 3 min read

Derrick Henry is the NFL's two-time defending rushing champ.

Jonathan Taylor hopes to become the top challenger for the title belt.

On Sunday, the league's top two rushers will showcase their styles in Round 2 of a classic matchup between AFC South contenders Tennessee and Indianapolis.

"He's a beast. You see it, he's really raising the level, the standard for running backs," Taylor said. "You need to be a dominant presence on the ground so all of us backs look at him (Henry) and try to figure out how can I become a dominant presence on the ground each and every single week?"

The picks:

Knockout pool: The Cardinals did what they are supposed to do in routing Houston. The pickings are a bit slimmer for who we have remaining and we'll go with Cincinnati.

(A technical glitch last week led to no true Upset Special selection).

No. 18 New England (+5¢) at No. 10 Los Angeles Chargers: The Patriots will make it close, but the Chargers already sense something special is happening. Best bet: Chargers, 24-20.

No. 16 Pittsburgh (+3¢) at No. 12 Cleveland: Rested Steelers handle their banged-up historic rival. Upset special: Steelers, 26-24.

No. 28 Miami (+13) at No. 7 Buffalo: Another rested team ready to beat a longtime rival. Bills, 30-14.

No. 25 Philadelphia (-3) at No. 31 Detroit: Time for the Lions to break through with their first victory. Lions, 23-20.

No. 4 Dallas (-2) at No. 15 Minnesota: Both of these squads are rested after byes. Dallas simply is more talented. Cowboys, 33-30.

No. 6 Tennessee (-1) at No. 17 Indianapolis: Sunday's best matchup and another chance for the Titans to look elite. Titans, 21-17.

No. 2 Tampa Bay (-5) at No. 13 New Orleans: Tom Brady and the Bucs are on quite a roll. It continues in the Big Easy. Buccaneers, 27-20.

No. 3 Los Angeles Rams (-14¢) at No. 32 Houston: Mismatch No. 1 this weekend. a big spread to cover, but … Rams, 36-13.

No. 8 Cincinnati (-10¢) at No. 32 New York Jets: Mismatch No. 2 in Week 8. Bengals could be in line for a letdown, which won't matter much. Bengals, 27-10.

No. 27 New York Giants (+10) at No. 14 Kansas City, Monday night: Mismatch No. 3. Or maybe not given KC's issues. One more try with the Chiefs. Chiefs, 32-20.

No. 21 San Francisco (-3¢) at No. 20 Chicago: Hard to defend the Niners as road favorites right now. 49ers, 17-15.

No. 29 Jacksonville (+3¢) at No. 22 (tie) Seattle: Where are things scarier for Halloween, Jacksonville or Seattle? Seahawks, 16-14.

No. 24 Carolina (+2¢) at No. 19 Atlanta: Atlanta is looking pretty smart for drafting Kyle Pitts and keeping Matt Ryan. Falcons, 23-16.

No. 26 Washington (+3) at No. 22 (tie) Denver: Once Denver began facing decent opponents, the losses came. Washington, 26-22.

2021 RECORD

Last Week: Straight up: 9-4. Against spread: 8-4.

Season: Straight up: 69-38. Against spread: 58-45-2.

Best Bet: Straight up: 5-2. Against spread: 5-2.

Upset Special: Straight up: 6-0. Against spread: 6-0.

Starting at /week.