Game Overview ::
By hilow >>
- So much of the outlook of this game can change with the status of Jordan Love. His MCL injury brought a two to six week recovery timeline and he will be 16 days removed from the injury on Sunday. He is reportedly pushing to play.
- So, do the Titans prepare for a quarterback that was drafted by their franchise in 2022 in Malik Willis (they are probably hoping as much) or do they prepare for one of the up-and-coming great franchise quarterbacks in the league in Jordan Love?
- On the other side of the game, does Matt LaFleur prepare another unique game plan for Willis or does he move forward expecting Love to return, placing the team back to full strength?
- QB Jordan Love returned to practice in a limited capacity Wednesday, while WR Jayden Reed missed the session with a calf injury. RB Josh Jacobs was limited with a back injury.
- The Titans maintain a relatively clean bill of health heading into Week 3, with RB Tyjae Spears (DNP, ankle) on the team’s injury report on Wednesday.
How green bay Will Try To Win ::
We pretty much nailed the “putting ourselves in Matt LaFleur’s shoes in Week 2” exercise. We said the Packers were likely to lean on Josh Jacobs at an extreme rate, holding Malik Willis to 12-15 pass attempts, cracking down on the defensive side of the football with their top-end linebacker unit and secondary, likely playing elevated rates of zone coverage with linebacker attention paid to the backfield to keep Anthony Richardson in the pocket and reading the defense. And that’s pretty much exactly what they did, and came out with a win because of it. And that game could have been over much sooner had Josh Jacobs not fumbled at the goal line with the team up 10-0. Fast forward to this week, and there’s a completely new puzzle for LaFleur to piece together against a far different opponent. The Colts provided a matchup that was ripe for production through man/gap rushing concepts, against a static, Cover-3-heavy defense that was predictable and easy to manipulate. The Titans, on the other hand, have utilized Cover-4 (31.8%), Cover-3 (25.8%), and Cover-1 (22.7%) at near-even rates. Newcomer defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson had his coaching upbringing with the Rams, Jets, Eagles, and Ravens – four franchises that operated top-tier defenses during his tenure. His unique blend of coverages and alignments has forced opposing quarterbacks into quick decisions and coverage diagnostics, which has led to five interceptions through two games. But with LaFleur more or less showing his hand at how he will approach games without Jordan Love, this team could struggle to move the football against the Titans should Malik Willis get the start.
Josh Jacobs has handled a solid 72.9% opportunity share on 70.1% of the offensive snaps through two weeks, bordering on the workhorse running back discussion. His 48 carries and four breakaway runs lead the league and he has already seen seven red zone touches – his fantasy results would also look much different had he not fumbled at the one against the Colts last week. He has also forced 10 missed tackles and has generated 3.77 yards after contact per attempt, which combines with the solid offensive line play of the Packers to return a robust 5.0 yards per carry. But this matchup is far different than the one he saw last week against one of the most adept defenses in pursuit I have seen on tape this season. Expect Emanuel Wilson and rookie MarShawn Lloyd to be used interchangeably as a change of pace duo.
The Green Bay pass game has significant questions heading into Week 3. Do we see Malik Willis or Jordan Love under center? How significant is the injury to Jayden Reed? How significant are the injuries along the offensive line? And how does LaFleur game plan mismatches against a defense that has utilized single-high and two-high alignments at a near-even rate? There aren’t many sweeping statements we can make with all those question marks for their game against the Titans other than the surprising data point that tight end Tucker Kraft actually leads the team in snaps, amongst pass-catchers, through two weeks. Romeo Doubs is playing the highest snap rate at wide receiver but has seen just one deep target on a 22.2% target share, Christian Watson is playing fewer snaps than Jayden Reed and has just a 71.4% route participation rate, and Dontayvion Wicks is playing around 50% of the offensive snaps in each game but always appears to be open on tape.
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