Titans Talk

Posted: December 3rd, 2022 | Author: Tommy Lawlor

On Sunday, the Eagles host the Titans. This is one of the biggest games of the year and the Titans are a good team.

This will be an interesting matchup. The Eagles are third in the NFL in rushing yards. The Titans are third in the NFL in rushing yards allowed. Strength vs strength. What makes Tennessee so unusual as that they can stop the run even with a light box. They use big DL and those guys are able to be stout enough and disruptive enough to limit the run game. Their LBs fly to the ball and tackle well.

The X-factor is Jalen Hurts. The Titans have only faced one good running QB, Josh Allen. He lit them up as a passer so he only ran once in that game. The Titans lost 41-7. Tennessee might be able to shut down Hurts. Not many teams have, but their defense is talented and has playmakers at all three levels.

Handling the Eagles run is only part of the challenge for the Titans. They are 31st in passing yards allowed. They’ve given up 19 TD passes. You can throw the ball on them. Complicating matters, DL Denico Autry is out. He leads the team in sacks and QB hits. This isn’t the game you want to be without your best pass rusher. They still have Jeffrey Simmons, Teair Tart, Bud Dupree, Demarcus Walker and Rashad Weaver so they’ve got enough talent up front to slow down the Eagles and win the game.

If the Eagles OL can block those guys, Hurts will have a chance to make plays through the air. I would expect the Eagles to win their share of battles and make some plays. Tennessee has the best third down defense in the league and the 7th best red zone D. Sustaining long drives is hard. Scoring TDs is hard. They will give up some empty yards, but points won’t be easy to come by. They haven’t allowed more than 20 points since September.

I’m guessing Nick Sirianni, Shane Steichen and the offensive staff will look for ways to come up with explosive plays. They do that for every game, but this could be one of those days where chunk plays are more important than usual.

LB David Long is the team’s leading tackler and is one of the most underrated players in the league.

The Eagles love to confuse defenders with all kinds of creative looks and fakes. In recent weeks, they’ve used more and more motion. That has confused plenty of defenders, but it might not work as well vs Long.

AJ Brown will be playing his former team so that could affect him. He has fumbled in each of the last two games. Brown needs to relax and just go play. If he presses, that could lead to a sloppy performance.

Rookie CB Roger McReary is playing good football right now. Kevin Byard is one of the best safeties in the league so Hurts will have to know where he is at all times. The secondary does have a couple of good pieces.

The flip side of Tennessee playing such good defense is that they struggle on offense. They are 26th in points and 29th in yards. Their offense is 19th in DVOA. They had a rookie QB start two games and that certainly hurt their numbers. With veteran Ryan Tannehill, they are mediocre.

This is one of the few teams in the league where the most important player is the RB. Derrick Henry is a beast. He’s one of my favorite players in the league. Henry isn’t just good, he’s special. He’s one of those guys you’ll tell your kids you saw play. He’s so big, strong and physical. What makes him special is that he also has more wiggle than people expect and if he gets into space, he’s got the speed to take it all the way.

Henry is second in the league in rushing (behind Josh Jacobs, who is having an amazing year). But Henry has been slowed in the past three games.

vs DEN – 19 for 53
vs GB – 28 for 87
vs CIN – 17 for 38

Wow. And remember the Packers run defense had no answer for the Eagles last week. The fact they held Henry to 87 yards is crazy. Seems like teams have been winning the line of scrimmage and just not giving Henry any room to run.

Can Jonathan Gannon and his players slow down Henry?

They struggled with AJ Dillon (8-64), who is a power back with some burst. He’s no Henry, though. This will be a huge challenge. There is a key difference from last week. The Titans don’t have Aaron Rodgers or Christian Watson. This could be a game where Gannon focuses on the run more than the pass.

The Eagles run defense will get a boost.

The Eagles are now loaded with big DTs.

Fletcher Cox
Javon Hargrave
Jordan Davis
Linval Joseph
Ndamukong Suh

They can rotate the players to keep them fresh or come up with some heavy DL sets. We’ll have to see what Gannon wants to do. The Eagles DL should have the advantage over the Titans OL.

The whole defense will be needed in this game. You can’t rely just on the DL. Tackling will be critical. Henry has a great stiff-arm and is hard to bring down in traffic or in space. Defenders must fly to the ball and gang tackle Henry.

Reed Blankenship will get his first NFL start. He’s a good fit for this game, with his aggressive downhill style and tackling ability. I am curious to see if the Titans try to attack him with their passing game.

This will be a good test for the Eagles. Can they run on Tennessee? They they slow down Derrick Henry? Can they beat a good team?

The Eagles are the better team on paper. They’re at home and have plenty of weapons. The Titans are just one of those teams that has "it”. They are physical, smart and well-coached. They don’t beat themselves.

This should be a good game.

*****

Sorry for the quiet week. I was traveling for business and that completely threw off my schedule.

*****

Before they became the Titans, they were the Oilers. And the Eagles and Oilers played in The House of Pain Game.

http://igglesblitz.com/2022/12/titans-talk/