Normally, a matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars inspires confidence for the Tennessee Titans and their fans, but you can throw that out the window this week.
Wins over the Jaguars were easy to come by for years, but the Titans have lost each of their last two against Jacksonville, which marks the first time Tennessee is on a losing streak against its divisional foe since 2015.
This year’s Titans team has been woefully disappointing, also, and while the Jags have done less than expected in their own right, they have still been the superior team over 10 weeks, as evidenced by Jacksonville sitting in first place and Tennessee being in the cellar.
As if all that wasn’t bad enough, the Titans have been playing their worst football on the road (more on that shortly) and now have to travel to Duval.
The Titans have no shortage of concerns going into this game, but there are also some reasons to be optimistic, even though those have been difficult to come by of late.
Concern: Titans' road woes
The Titans haven’t won a game away from Nissan Stadium in a full calendar year and are 0-6 away from the venue in 2023 when you include the loss in London.
The Titans have scored more points in three games at Nissan Stadium (82) than they have in six games away from it (72) and are averaging 27.3 points per game in Nashville, as compared to 12 per on the road.
Tennessee needs to bring that road average way up if it wants to win on Sunday.
Optimism: Jags' home struggles
The Jaguars are just 2-3 in home games this year, and one of those came in London. In their four games at EverBank Stadium specifically, Jacksonville is averaging just 16.5 points per contest and are surrendering 27 per.
Concern: The offensive line
After an awful 2022 campaign for the offensive line, the Titans’ 2023 group has somehow found a way to be worse.
Tennessee has surrendered 33 sacks in nine games, the fourth-most in the NFL. That puts the team on pace to give up 62, which would be 13 more than last season. The Titans have also given up 142 pressures, putting them on pace to finish with 269, a whopping 71 more than 2022.
Poor pass protection has been the story of the entire season, and it has been particularly bad the last two weeks, which has grounded rookie quarterback Will Levis after an impressive debut.
With left tackle Andre Dillard unlikely to play, the Titans are expected to deploy Dillon Radunz in his spot. Radunz didn’t fare so well at the position last week after ceding seven pressures and one sack. However, the hope is that a full week of preparation will help him play better.
On the bright side, Tennessee may welcome back right guard Daniel Brunskill, who missed last week’s game. Brunskill has been arguably Tennessee’s best offensive lineman this season.
But if he doesn’t play, it’s just another concern on a long list of them. The Titans played Andrew Rupcich there last week, but he was no great shakes. The more experienced Corey Levin should be the choice this time around.
The Jags’ pass-rush hasn’t had much success this year, with the team tallying just 18 sacks in nine contests. However, Jacksonville does have Josh Allen, who in the midst of a career year with nine sacks, and the Titans’ offensive line is capable of making even the most tame pass-rush look great.
Optimism and concern: Jaguars' offense
There were high expectations for the Jaguars’ offense going into this season, but it’s safe to say Trevor Lawrence and Co. have fallen short.
Jacksonville is currently scoring 21.8 points per contest, which ranks tied for 15th. And, like the Titans, the Jags have struggled in the red zone, with the team sporting the fourth-worst success rate in the NFL, per Team Rankings.
Head coach Doug Pederson at least partly attributes Jacksonville’s struggles to Lawrence not operating at 100 percent due to a knee injury.
“One of the things that we haven’t been able to do because of Trevor’s condition with his knee is just move him a little bit more,” Pederson said, according to Nick Shook of NFL.com. “Sometimes, you can create things off of that. He’s been limited that way.”
Lawrence injured his knee in Week 6 but hasn’t been on the injury report since Week 8 and remains off it going into this game. The Jaguars signal-caller says he’s feeling better but it doesn’t sound like he’s 100 percent yet.
“It’s feeling better,” Lawrence said. “It’s finally getting to where I’m not going to really think about it as much and won’t be as much as an issue. I feel like I’m starting to move pretty fluid and it’s not bothering when I do much. Obviously, it’s still a little bit here or there, it’ll get aggravated. But that’s a good question, I’m starting to feel comfortable and I’m happy about that with the progress I’ve made. We’ve been able to protect it the last few weeks and I’m excited to hopefully finally get going and just play normal, move around, all that stuff.”
It remains to be seen how much Lawrence will be bothered by the issue in this game, but if his mobility is limited in any way, it’ll make life easier for Tennessee’s pass-rush to get home, which is vital if the Titans want to keep this game low-scoring to give themselves a chance to win.
The problem, of course, is that the Titans’ defense is capable of making worse offenses look good.
Tennessee’s pass-rush disappears far too often, and that leads to opposing signal-callers exposing a secondary that has been woefully disappointing throughout the season.
Jacksonville has no shortage of weapons in the passing game that will make life hell for Tennessee’s suspect secondary, which may also be short-handed once again if Sean Murphy-Bunting can’t go.
Calvin Ridley, Evan Engram and Christian Kirk are all capable of taking this game over. The only hope is for the pass-rush to get relentless pressure, and even then it might not be enough.
Optimism: Jaguars' pass defense
If the Titans are able to protect Levis, the Jags’ secondary can be exploited, with the unit giving up the third-most passing yards per contest (266.8).
On the surface, that should be easy to do given the Jaguars are only averaging two sacks per game, but we know nothing is a given with this Tennessee offensive line.
Further adding to Jacksonville’s concerns in the secondary, third-year corner Tyson Campbell is unlikely to play.
Concern: Jaguars' run defense
As bad as the Jags have been against the pass, they’ve been very good against the run. Jacksonville currently sports the No. 5 run defense that is ceding just 86.4 rushing yards per game.
Derrick Henry’s splits against the Jags are legendary, no doubt, but this is one of the best Jacksonville run defenses he’s ever faced. Furthermore, the Titans’ offensive line hasn’t been good when blocking for Henry or Tyjae Spears.
If the Henry versus Jaguars magic runs out, it’ll put more pressure on Levis, who will be forced to shoulder the load behind an offensive line that fails to protect him more often than not.
