Titans vs. Eagles Game Preview:
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#1: Titans vs. Eagles Game Preview: Autor: laiyongcai92,
Poslato: Čet Feb 28, 2019 7:29 am
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Five questions and answers with Bleeding Green Nation Brandon Gowton (@BrandonGowton) was nice enough to answer 5 questions for us about the upcoming match-up with the defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles. You can see his questions to me and my answers over at Bleeding Green Nation. Be sure to read the comments because everyone over there agrees 100% with me that the Titans are winning the AFC South #ornot.1 - How did Carson Wentz look in his debut last week? Is he all the way back?Relative to expectations http://www.titansfootballauthentics.com/dion-lewis-jersey-authentic , Carson Wentz looked pretty good. There were a lot of encouraging signs from his performance. He did not look limited in any capacity by the ACL/LCL injury he suffered last December. That’s not to say it was a perfect performance. He did look rusty at times. His interception came on a play when he started down Zach Ertz for too long. There were moments when the ball was probably coming out a little slower than it should have been. But it feels like those issues can be smoothed out with more practice reps and game action. The positive outweighed the negative last week and I think we’ll start to see Wentz ramping up closer to his 2017 form as the season progresses. I wouldn’t say he’s currently all the way back but he’s not far off and he’s on the right track to getting there. 2 - The Eagles have been really banged up the last couple of weeks. Can you give us a status update on guys like Alshon Jeffery, Jay Ajayi and Darren Sproles?The Eagles were absolutely depleted at the skill player positions for their Week 3 game against the Colts. Philadelphia was missing their top two running backs and three of their top four wide receivers. Not ideal. The bad news for the Eagles is they might be without Ajayi and Sproles once again this week. Neither player practiced on Wednesday. Doug Pederson DID say he expects them to return to practice in some capacity this week, so we’ll see if that’s the case. Despite missing Ajayi and Sproles against Indy, the Eagles still managed to gain 142 rushing yards on 32 carries split between Corey Clement, Wendell Smallwood, and Josh Adams. So it’s not necessarily the end of the world if Ajayi and/or Sproles can’t play. The Eagles’ offensive line is good enough to open holes for the backups. But obviously it’s not as ideal.Alshon Jeffery’s outlook for this week is much more optimistic. The 28-year-old pass catcher was a full participant during Wednesday’s practice for the first time this season. Barring a setback, it seems like he’s on track to play against the Titans. That’s big for the Eagles considering Jeffery was Wentz’s most targeted player in 2017. Jeffery’s potential return means the Eagles won’t have to rely as heavily upon uninspiring options like Kamar Aiken, Jordan Matthews, and Joshua Perkins in the passing game. 3 - What is the Eagles’ biggest strength? Where do they have the biggest edge in this game?The Eagles won the Super Bowl earlier this year largely because they’ve built through the trenches. Philadelphia has one of the best offensive lines in the league. They also have one of the best defensive lines, as evidence by the pressure they’ve been able to generate. Offensively, I think the Eagles will be able to open some holes in the run game and buy enough time for Carson Wentz to make plays.Defensively, Fletcher Cox has been a monster through three games and I think he’ll cause some problems for the Titans’ interior offensive line. Cox should be able to win against Ben Jones and Josh Kline. He’ll be getting some pressure on Marcus Mariota.4 - What is the Eagles’ biggest weakness? What concerns you the most about the Eagles? The Eagles’ secondary has been inconsistent early on this season. The unit has performed well during home games but facing the Buccaneers in Tampa was a different story. Ryan Fitzpatrick torched Jim Schwartz’s defense for 402 yards and four touchdowns. Making matters worse for the Eagles is that they’ll likely be without starting safety Rodney McLeod against the Titans. That means it’ll likely be 33-year-old Corey Graham starting in his place. Graham is usually a role player so this means that some of the Eagles’ subpackages might be screwed up now that he has to play more often. Another thing worth noting is that the Eagles aren’t off to a hot start when it comes to special teams. Philadelphia’s unit ranks 29th in DVOA while the Titans are 4th. 5 - Who wins this game and why? Score prediction? And what are your expectations for the rest of this Eagles season?I’m taking the Eagles to win this game. Shocking, I know. I just feel very good about this team’s direction with Wentz back. I think he’ll be sharper this week, especially with Jeffery potentially back on the field. Mariota’s mobility could ultimately give the Eagles’ defense some trouble but I think that unit will ultimately hold up better than they did in Week 2. It should be a good game. Final score prediction: Eagles 24, Titans 20.As far as the rest of the season goes, I’m optimistic. I think the team just needs to kind of weather the storm right now as they deal with some injuries and a rusty Wentz. I have confidence they’ll start to hit their stride at some point and eventually become the first team to be a repeat winner in the NFC East since 2004. It is no secret: the Tennessee Titans offense has struggled thus far in 2018.The run game has sputtered and been mostly ineffective for the better part of 5 games, as evidenced by the team’s current rank of 24th in rush DVOA (which accounts for strength of opponent) according to Football Outsiders.The Titans have played 21 total periods (counting overtime) this season. They have been held without a touchdown in 16 of those 21 quarters. The nerve injury sustained by Marcus Mariota, the multiple injuries suffered by Taylor Lewan, the devastating injury that ended Delanie Walker’s season, Jack Conklin’s recovery from a torn ACL Youth Austin Johnson Jersey , Dennis Kelly’s mystery illness, and the demise of Rishard Matthews have all factored in to the offense’s struggles, no doubt about it.Tyler Marz struggled mightily filling in for the injured Lewan on Sunday after the league’s highest-paid tackle exited the game with a foot injury.But the crazy part is that despite all the injuries and all the ineffectiveness, the Titans offense could be doing much better if the team could simply eliminate mental mistakes and execute when it counted.One position group that has struggled consistently with making mistakes is the team’s pass catchers, particularly when it comes to... well... catching the ball.The graphic above was posted prior to Sunday’s game at Buffalo, but I can’t imagine the number improved much after Nick Williams’ costly drop in the 4th quarter.There are lots of things that could be better about the Titans’ offense, but for today’s article, we’re just going to look at the Titans drops, because those miscues are pretty easy to identify, and for the Titans, they’ve come in pretty huge moments.I reviewed all of the Titans’ incomplete pass attempts since Week 1 and determined that there were 8 (give or take) drops by Titans receivers on balls that should’ve been caught (the most questionable one is the downfield play against the Eagles where Taywan Taylor was egregiously interfered with, drawing no flag).6 of these 8 drops occurred on third down. Let’s take a closer look at each painful drop to assess just how much damage the receivers are doing to the offensive production...NFL Gamepass.This first one came on the Titans’ very first possession of the season. The offense drove to the Dolphins 28-yard line and, facing a 3rd-and-4, Mariota lofted one into the end zone for Taywan Taylor.Now this isn’t exactly an easy catch, and there may be a small amount of pass interference, but the fact of the matter is the ball landed squarely in both of Taylor’s hands and bounced cleanly out, costing the team a touchdown. This is one you expect your starting-caliber receivers to catch.And I don’t mean this next part to be blaming Taywan Taylor for the disastrous start to the season, but hear me out - had Taylor caught this ball, every play that followed would have changed (you know, the butterfly effect and all) Authentic Logan Ryan Jersey , including (but not limited to) Marcus Mariota’s injury, Taylor Lewan’s concussion, and Delanie Walker’s broken ankle.So, all in all, a brutal first drop. Moving on...The second one came Week 3 against Jacksonville. Rishard Matthews questioned his role in the offense. Perhaps if he had managed to make this simple reception, he would’ve received more snaps...NFL Gamepass.As you can see from the endzone cam, this third-and-2 pass attempt deep in Jacksonville territory hits Rishard Matthews exactly where quarterbacks are instructed to hit their targets - in the hands directly in front of the facemask. Naturally, Rishard Matthews did not want to be a Titan anymore so rather than set the team up with a first down in the red zone, he dropped the pass, ending the drive.Moving on to later in this game...NFL Gamepass.In the second quarter, the Titans faced a 3rd-and-6 from their own 20 yard line. Tajae Sharpe does a nice job of getting open over the middle, and Mariota delivers a great throw that hits his receiver right between the numbers.Sharpe tries to corral this pass between his arms as if he’s fielding a punt. As he rolls over, the ball squirts free. Incomplete pass, drive over, Titans punt. Shall we discuss the next one?NFL Gamepass.Onto Week 4: here we have one of Mariota’s best plays as an escape artist in the pocket. Notice that it is again third down. Mariota, evading the rush, somehow keeps his balance and maneuvers back around to find an open Jonnu Smith just beyond the first down marker. Rather than use his hands, Smith goes for the ole’ bread basket catching technique, and the ball doinks straight off his chest into the ground, killing another Titans drive deep in opponent territory. Mariota’s reaction is a reflection of how we all felt. Later in the game...NFL Gamepass.This one was not on third down Womens DaQuan Jones Jersey , and it should’ve been flagged for a pass interference penalty, as Leodis McKelvin clearly grabs Taywan Taylor’s facemask. For those reasons, this is the least egregious drop of this breakdown. Even so, Mariota delivered a beautiful pass that hits Taylor in the hands. PI or not, it’d be nice to see him catch this ball.Let’s take a look at another...NFL Gamepass.This next one, again in the Week 4 game, is a bit tougher to see, but using the end zone cam you can tell that this ball hits Taywan Taylor squarely in the chest - again on third down - and Taylor is again unable to secure the pass, thus ending another Titans drive.This next one belongs in a slapstick comedy routine...NFL Gamepass.The speedster Darius Jennings runs straight past the Philadelphia defense and Mariota delivers a perfect downfield strike, in overtime, needing a touchdown to win the game.Jennings feels compelled (for reasons unknown) to jump as the pass is arriving and thrust his chest upwards into the ball while alligator-arming the attempt to secure it. And so, with the chance to set the Titans offense up inside the red zone, the undrafted free agent proved that he is indeed capable of being yet another Titans receiver to drop a crucial pass.The Titans are very lucky that this drop did not cost them a win. I wish I could say the same about the next one...NFL Gamepass.I don’t think I need to elaborate on how devastating this drop was, as Marcus Mariota says enough with his reaction at the end of the play.Converting on third down is a great way to gain an edge in any given week. If the offense can sustain drives, it keeps the opponent off the field while increasing the team’s chances of putting points on the board. This much is obvious. So while the Titans certainly have a lot of kinks to iron out with the offense after five weeks, they’d be in a lot better shape if they hadn’t turned 6 sure-fire first downs into incompletions.Was Mariota throwing shade at his receivers with his word choice during his press conference on Sunday?(Just kidding, that’s a joke...)Before we end this breakdown focusing on the mistakes of Titans pass-catchers, I’ll leave you with one more play...
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