The Titans capped off their fifth straight game against 2020 playoff teams with a fifth straight win.
Three Down
RBBC: The second week of the running back by committee approach looked a lot like the first. 66 yards on the ground, with D’Onta Foreman leading the way with 30 yards. 2.7 YPC isn’t going to set the world on fire, but he looked like he had the most juice of the running backs.
Peterson had a few nice carries, but overall was just ok. The offensive line needs to open up some more holes on the ground, and the RBs have to take advantage. A golden opportunity arises against a very bad Texans team next week. Hopefully some positive momentum for the offense can begin before they take on an excellent Patriots team.
Limited personnel: Every week, it’s something, isn’t it? Bud Dupree left the game early and was ruled out quickly with an abdominal injury. Taylor Lewan left with cramps. Ola Adeniyi, Nate Davis, and A.J. Brown all missed plays due to injury as well. Ryan Tannehill was not feeling well with some sort of stomach bug that seemed to limit how much they threw the ball. Julio Jones and Derrick Henry are both on the IR.
This offense is very much hobbled right now, but they are putting up enough plays together to win ball games. That won’t cut it in the playoffs, but there’s time to figure it out. For now, just win and try to continue the positive momentum. Hard to blame coaching when that many players are hurt, but they’ll need to evolve. 4 targets for A.J. Brown probably isn’t enough.
Players in the lineup also need to step up. The healthy linemen need to block better. Anthony Firkser is having a terrible season and needs to start playing like the offseason’s most hyped up Titans player.
The good news is that there is plenty of room for growth with this unit, but that progress might be stymied by the players that are available to play.
Chris Jackson: Let me start by saying Jackson has been good at times this season. For instance, last week against the Rams, he was very solid. This week told a very different story. The second year cornerback was targeted seemingly on every single passing attempt by the Saints, and it worked out very well for Sean Payton’s offense.
Sunday’s performance was certainly one to forget for Jackson, he’ll need to correct it in a hurry if the other corners miss any more time. I do not envy him during film review this week.
Three Up
The Tennessee Tickle Monsters: Behold, the best front four in the NFL. Harold Landry and Naquan Jones each had a sack. Jeffery Simmons led the defense with two sacks. Simmons is becoming almost unblockable and making a solid case for DPOY.
Landry now has double digit sacks on the year for the first time in his career and continues to get more and more expensive. I’m holding out hope that the Titans can re-sign him and keep the band together past this season. In the present, I look forward to watching this group every Sunday.
Marcus Johnson: During this offseason, few players were hyped up more than Marcus Johnson. The training camp darling had yet to put it together on the field, but on Sunday that changed. Five catches, 100 yards, on six targets. With no Julio Jones and A.J. having a down game, this was a welcome development.
A lot of the production happened with Marshon Lattimore in coverage on him. No easy feat, and should certainly give him confidence moving forward. If he stays healthy, the Titans might have found a nice weapon going forward.
Randy Bullock: Sunday’s game exhibited the importance of having a good kicker. New Orleans’ kicker, Brian Johnson, missed two XP’s, which ended up being the difference in the game. Randy went three for three with a long of 36 yards.
To put it bluntly, he’s making the kicks he should make, which is not something you could say for the previous Titan kickers. Here’s to Randy keeping it up, they’ll need him for the stretch run.
