The Tennessee Titans will rightly enter their Week 14 game against the Miami Dolphins as massive underdogs.
The Titans are in the midst of a highly disappointing season that has them in last place in the AFC South. Meanwhile, Miami is sitting as the conference’s top seed at the moment and are in first place in the AFC East.
But the standings aren’t the only reason the Titans are heavy underdogs, as this matchup is simply a terrible one for Tennessee considering Miami’s strengths.
Despite all that, there is one reason for optimism for Tennessee ahead of this game. We’ll cover that and more as we take a look at reasons for optimism and concern for the Titans in Week 14.
Concern: Dolphins' offense
The Dolphins sport the No. 1 passing attack and love to throw the football around the field. The Titans’ biggest weakness is their secondary, which doesn’t have the horses to keep up with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
As if that wasn’t enough to worry about, Miami also sports the No. 2 rushing attack in the NFL.
If the Titans want to have a chance to win this game, the pass-rush has to get home early and often on Tua Tagovailoa — and even then, that might not be enough.
Unfortunately for Tennessee, one of their best pass-rushers, Jeffery Simmons, is not playing in this game, which will make getting after Tua even more difficult.
Concern: Titans' offense
Another avenue for the Titans to win would be scoring a ton of points, something the offense hasn’t been able to do all season.
Tennessee is averaging a putrid 17.8 points per contest, the eighth-fewest in the NFL. Interestingly enough, the last time the Titans surpassed 30 points came during the 2021 season against the Dolphins.
Making it more unlikely the Titans have an offensive outburst is the fact that the Dolphins’ defense ranks ninth against the pass and eighth against the run. Miami also has a talented pass-rush that is tied for the third-most sacks in the NFL, which is terrible news for Tennessee’s bad offensive line.
Even if the Titans are able to keep Levis upright, he’ll be throwing into a secondary that sports a pair of elite corners in Jalen Ramsey and Xavien Howard.
Optimism: A better draft pick
Yes, the Titans are almost certainly going to lose this game and they could end up getting embarrassed on national television, but Tennessee’s playoff hopes are already all but officially dead and the focus is now squarely on draft positioning.
Barring every team in front of them losing, the Titans, who currently have the No. 8 pick, will move up in the draft order with a loss on Monday.
The Titans actually have a realistic shot at a top-three pick, and the No. 2 selection isn’t out of the question after the New England Patriots notched their third win on Thursday night.
So, there is a silver lining in losing, no matter how ugly things might get.
