The Tennessee Titans are coming off their bye in Week 8 and are looking to turn their season around after a 2-4 start — and they’ll look to do so against the Atlanta Falcons.
While the 2-4 Titans are in the cellar in the AFC South, the Falcons are in the opposite position, with the team leading the NFC South with a 4-3 record.
There will be no shortage of familiar faces on the opposing sideline, with that list headlined by former Titans offensive coordinator and current Atlanta Falcons head coach, Arthur Smith.
Smith will be making his first trip back to Tennessee since taking the job in Atlanta in 2021.
“I was fortunate to be there [with the Titans] for 10 years, but it’s going to be about the players for us and the Titans on Sunday,” Smith said, per Greg Auman of FOX Sports. “A lot of good friends and colleagues that I was fortunate to work with. Some of them are still on the coaching staff. A lot of people, the equipment and support staff, just thankful for my time there.”
But Smith isn’t the only familiar face the Titans will see on Sunday. We’ll cover that and much more in our seven things to know for Week 8.
Falcons are favored
According to BetMGM, the Falcons are three-point road favorites over the Titans, which is at least partially influenced by a key injury in Tennessee (more on that shortly). The Titans just haven’t been good this year, either.
The over/under currently sits at 35.5, the lowest total of any Week 8 contest as of this writing.
Titans wearing Oilers jersey
For the first time in forever, the Titans will be rocking their Houston Oilers threads in a game. Tennessee will also don their throwbacks in Week 15 against the Houston Texans.
Derrick Henry and 2 professional models, who will not be seen wearing Oilers throwbacks on the field this weekend pic.twitter.com/zOC3hiCqAN
— Easton Freeze (@eastonfreeze) October 23, 2023
Mike Vrabel is unbeaten after a bye week
One reason for optimism for the Titans this week is the fact that their head coach sports a perfect record after a bye week, with the Vrabel-led Titans being 5-0 in such a scenario.
#Titans look to stay unbeaten after bye under Mike Vrabel. pic.twitter.com/FsnB2qI2ho
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) October 26, 2023
Old friends
On top of seeing their former offensive coordinator, the Titans will also reunite with several of the team’s former players. The list includes:
QB Logan Woodside
TE Jonnu Smith
TE MyCole Pruitt
OLB Bud Dupree
Smith has actually emerged as an important target for quarterback Desmond Ridder and is on pace to have a career year, with his 309 receiving yards just 139 shy of his career-best mark, which was set with the Titans in 2020 (448).
It’ll also be a family affair, as the Falcons have Mike Vrabel’s son, Tyler, on their practice squad.
Uncertainty for Titans at QB
Ryan Tannehill (ankle) hasn’t been ruled out officially, but reports suggest he is unlikely to go, which will leave either Malik Willis or Will Levis as the starter.
There has been a report that Levis is expected to start, but head coach Mike Vrabel has been coy on the matter, even suggesting it’s possible the two signal-callers could alternate series.
At the very least, though, it looks like both will play, and chances are that will come in the form of whoever isn’t starting getting a package of plays. It’s highly likely that Vrabel’s suggestion is just his way of trying to not show his hand, especially with the aforementioned report out there.
Willis made three starts last year in what was a very rocky rookie campaign for him, and things didn’t get much better when he came on in relief of Tannehill in Week 6.
It’s safe to say fans are done with that experiment, and as a result they are clamoring for the debut of the 2023 second-round pick, who, if he starts, will hopefully impress and give hope for both now and the future.
Struggling offenses
One of the reasons why the over/under for this game is so low is because the Titans and Falcons are two of the worst scoring offenses in the NFL entering Week 8.
Tennessee is averaging just 17.3 points per contest, good enough for eighth-lowest total through seven weeks of the season. Meanwhile, the Falcons are even worse, coming in at 16.4 points per game, the fourth-lowest total.
Making matters worse for Tennessee, a team that has struggled with pass pro, run-blocking, wide receiver separation and just about everything else under the sun, the team will have either a struggling second-year player or rookie making his debut at the quarterback position.
As for the Falcons, their offense is loaded with talent, but getting that talent the ball has been a struggle. Ridder has certainly shown flashes, but he’s also struggled with consistency and has had plenty of issues with turnovers.
When you put it all together, chances are this won’t be a barn burner.
A crossroads game
The Titans are at a crossroads going into Week 8, as the team sits at 2-4 and has to decide whether or not it will have a fire sale at the trade deadline on Oct. 31 to prepare for a rebuild or stay the course and try and make something out of this year.
It appears the Titans have already starting moving in the former direction after the Kevin Byard trade, but we can’t say for sure based off one move.
I’ll never underestimate Vrabel’s faith in himself and the team to recreate the 2019 season, when Tennessee also started 2-4 before turning things around and going all the way to the AFC Championship Game.
However, if there remains any doubt about selling at the deadline, a loss to Atlanta will almost certainly put that to bed. In reality, the Titans should be unloading what they can, no matter the outcome of Sunday’s game.
