The Tennessee Titans fell to the Washington Commanders in a 42-19 shellacking that could have been altogether avoided. Turnovers early in the game gave the Commanders the ability to score on their first four possessions of the game. The Titans looked better in the second half but couldn’t overcome the deficit they dug for themselves.
The Commanders took advantage of every opportunity they had, and that included attacking the ground game when they noticed Jeffery Simmons or T’Vondre Sweat wasn’t on the field, allowing them to record 267 yards on the ground, the most the Titans have allowed all season.
Now, let’s examine the snap counts that contributed to the Titans’ Week 13 loss.
Offensive snaps: 55
Defensive snaps: 83
Special teams snaps: 28
There was zero rotation on the offensive line, not that the Titans have a lot of personnel to pull from. Calvin Ridley and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine both played 100% of the offensive snaps, but there was some rotation among the running backs with Tony Pollard taking 73% of the snaps.
Defensively, both Simmons and Sweat played fewer snaps on defense than they normally do, which directly correlates with why the Commanders were able to run the ball. Both appeared on more special teams snaps, which is probably why special teams looked better overall, but the Titans have to find a balance here. Two guys can’t do it all.
There are a lot of factors contributing to the Titans’ loss on Sunday, and the way snap counts contribute cannot be overlooked.
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