The Tennessee Titans were roundly embarrassed by the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 13, losing 35-10 at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday afternoon, marking their second-straight loss.
Making the loss even worse was the fact that former Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown torched Tennessee for a pair of touchdowns, finishing with eight receptions for 119 yards overall.
Maybe with the exception of Week 2 against the Buffalo Bills, this was easily the Titans’ worst all-around showing of the 2022 campaign thus far. The defense couldn’t stop anything, and the offense was bad in all areas.
Hopefully getting their teeth kicked in by Brown and the Eagles will force this team to change things on offense, but we aren’t holding our breath. If what we saw over the first 11 games wasn’t enough to make a change, chances are one more awful showing won’t be enough, either.
With all that said, let’s go over the biggest takeaways from Week 13.
We can officially worry about run-blocking, too
I was holding out hope that things would get better upfront in terms of run-blocking once Ben Jones returned, but that did not happen. Instead, the Titans struggled just as they had in the three previous games (two without Jones).
Derrick Henry, who is getting hit at or behind the line of scrimmage on what seems like every play, has failed to break the century mark in each of the last four games, averaging 2.8, 3.1, 2.2 and 2.7 yards per carry in that span.
This offense was already struggling even when Henry was breaking 100 yards, but there’s zero hope for this unit if the Titans can’t get him going consistently.
All this and we didn’t even mention the pass protection, which might’ve been at its worst on Sunday. Ryan Tannehill was lucky to survive, as he was sacked six times, hit nine times, and pressured countless other times.
The good news for Tennessee is it has a perfect get-right game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team Henry normally dominates, but The King’s history of doing so won’t quell my fears if he goes off in Week 14.
Something has to give on offense
As our Shaun Calderon wrote, Tennessee’s awful offensive showing in Week 13 only amplified the need for change.
And hopefully head coach Mike Vrabel is starting to come around to that idea. He said the team was “at a crossroads,” while also noting that “we have to make some decisions and see what we can do to win a football game.”
The first change that needs to be made is to the play-caller, where Todd Downing simply isn’t getting any better. As Calderon suggested, the Titans should turn to passing-game coordinator Tim Kelly moving forward.
But personnel decisions are needed, also.
The Titans desperately need a shot in the arm in their receiving corps. outside of Treylon Burks, but improving that situation with an outside move will be impossible this late in the season. That ship sailed at the trade deadline.
Along the offensive line, exploring a change at left tackle is past due. Dennis Daley is getting worked on the regular and he managed to shine for all the wrong reasons the most on a day when the entire group upfront was bad.
Whatever the Titans do, they need to do something. Standing pat with things as is amounts to negligence.
Titans miss Denico Autry badly
In two games without Autry, whose absence has amplified how important he is to this team, the Titans have three sacks and have been torched for 650 yards and four touchdowns through the air.
Tennessee has usually been able to pick up the slack for anyone who gets hurt, but that has not been the case with Autry’s absence.
We haven’t seen guys like DeMarcus Walker or Mario Edwards step up these last two weeks, and the Titans haven’t gotten much from Bud Dupree or anything from Jeffery Simmons, who isn’t fully healthy.
Hopefully the Titans can get Autry back at some point soon. The most important thing, though, is having him fully healthy for the playoffs.
Chig looks like a star
I’ve been dancing around this for weeks now but I’m just going to go ahead and say it: Chig Okonkwo looks like a star.
The Maryland product ripped off yet another 40-plus yard gain in Week 13, his third of the season. In all, Chig has four receptions of 30-plus yards, which ranks behind only Kansas City Chiefs superstar tight end, Travis Kelce, who has five.
#Titans rookie TE Chig Okonkwo had a 41-yd catch today, becoming the 2nd NFL TE this yr to post 4 catches of at least 30 yds.
-Travis Kelce (5) is the other.
-All 4 of Okonkwo's 30-plus yd catches have come in last 5 games.— John Glennon (@glennonsports) December 5, 2022
Yes, only a superstar tight end has more 30-plus-yard catches than the Titans rookie, who, outside of Burks, is the most explosive pass-catcher on the team.
We previously spoke about the Titans’ need for change and a spark on offense. One approach they can take is getting this man more snaps and opportunities on a weekly basis, because he is a special playmaker.
And the need to do so will only grow stronger if Burks is forced to miss Week 14.
Okonkwo saw career-highs in snaps (32), receptions (four) and yards (68) in Week 13, which is definitely a step in the right direction. Now, we need to see this kind of usage (and more) on a weekly basis the rest of the way.
More key injuries
The Titans lost more players because of injury in Week 13, with linebacker David Long (hamstring), cornerback Kristian Fulton (groin) and wide receiver Treylon Burks (concussion) all exiting early.
It goes without being said how important all three of these players are, but Burks especially, as he’s one of the few Titans receivers who can actually separate and make plays with any semblance of consistency.
We’ll have to monitor these players as the week progresses, but the Titans’ injury woes continue.
A.J. Brown's big day made Jon Robinson look worse
As A.J. Brown was ripping off big touchdown catches and all-around dominating the Titans on Sunday, it only made general manager Jon Robinson’s decision to trade him look worse.
Brown’s eight catches, 119 yards and two touchdowns were more than Titans wide receivers combined.
Granted, we still don’t know all of the specifics as far as what really led to the break-up, but one can’t help but wonder if the Titans really exhausted every avenue possible to keep their star receiver. Whatever the case may be, this trade looks like one that’ll haunt the Titans for years to come.
The good news is, Treylon Burks is beginning to emerge as a No. 1 receiver, but the bad news is the Titans already had a really good one and decided to let him go.
Titans are a playoff team, nothing more
Any hope the Titans had at making a deep run in the playoffs really died when they didn’t make a trade at the deadline. The loss to the Eagles on Sunday was more proof for the ‘ol pudding.
With the defeat, the Titans are now 1-4 against teams with a winning record, with their only victory in such games coming in Week 5 against the Washington Commanders, who were 1-3 at the time.
In their four losses (Giants, Bills, Chiefs, Eagles), the Titans have gotten their doors blown off twice by arguably the two best teams in the NFL in the Bills (Week 2) and Eagles (Week 13).
The Titans can’t hope to compete for anything more than a division title with results like that, especially when their offense can’t do anything right.
