The Tennessee Titans head north on Sunday to face the Buffalo Bills. The Bills have a solid hold on the AFC East and have consistently made the playoffs since Josh Allen was drafted in 2018, winning the AFC East the last four seasons. They have yet to win a Super Bowl, though, and desperately want to get that ring.
The Titans are struggling mightily this season. Offensively anyway. Defensively, the Titans have a solid unit and rank in the top 10 in both the pass and run game. Still, their depth on defense is thin, and they haven’t faced the likes of the Bills yet.
All of that said, there are several causes for concern in Tennessee right now, but for this week, we’ve narrowed it down to three.
Secondary woes rearing up
Last week against the Indianapolis Colts, the Titans allowed Joe Flacco to throw for 189 yards, but it was more the two touchdowns that hurt. The one pictured above happened the play after Quandre Diggs went to the blue tent and Flacco saw the mismatch with linebacker Harold Landry III on the outside. It wasn’t hard to exploit, Landry isn’t used to being out there. Even with Diggs’ return to the field, the Titans never recovered after that.
Against the Bills, the Titans cannot let mismatches like this happen. Even if a player goes down with an injury, whoever steps into their position has to be ready to do the job. When you’re facing a quarterback like Josh Allen, even with the number one pass defense in the league, you can’t afford mistakes.
Teams should be forced to run against the Titans, and so far, the Titans have held opposing quarterbacks to under 200 yards per game. That will likely change on Sunday when they face Allen.
Will Levis is still the quarterback
There’s not much more to say that hasn’t already been said. Levis isn’t hacking it in the NFL, and Brian Callahan is too stubborn to bench him. The Bills pass defense ranks in the middle of the pack, but the run defense is ranked fourth. This will force Callahan to call more pass plays, which provides more opportunity for interceptions to be thrown.
As long as Levis remains under center and the Titans continue to lose, having him as quarterback is always a cause for concern.
The Bills’ run defense
The Titans want to run their offense through Tony Pollard. It’s safe, it ensures the ball stays with the offense, and he moves the ball down the field better than anyone else. It would be helpful if Tyjae Spears could suit up, but we likely won’t know his status until Sunday. In his absence, Pollard will have Julius Chestnut to help with the ground game.
However, as mentioned above, the Bills have the fourth-ranked run defense in the NFL this year. The offensive line has to be up to the task for Pollard on Sunday, he needs room to run, and bouncing to the edge isn’t always an option. The Titans’ offensive line has allowed 16 sacks in six games. They have to do better on Sunday if the Titans want any shot at putting points on the board.
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