Game Overview ::
By Mike Johnson >>
- The Titans offense has accumulated a grand total of three touchdowns through four games.
- Tennessee may be getting running back Tyjae Spears back from injured reserve this week, which would relieve some of the workload from Tony Pollard.
- Arizona has now lost their top two running backs from the start of the season and will split their backfield work between Emari Demercado and Michael Carter.
- The Titans 29th ranked defense provides the perfect opportunity for the Cardinals offense to get on track after a slow start to the season.
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How tennessee Will Try To Win ::
The Tennessee offense was expected to take a step forward this season with the addition of the first overall pick from April’s NFL Draft, QB Cam Ward out of Miami. Unfortunately for the Titans, their offense has continued to be completely inept and stagnant through the first quarter of the season. To be fair, the Titans have played a very tough schedule of defenses in the Broncos, Rams, Colts, and Texans. However, they are taking things to new lows this season, averaging only 3.7 yards per play. For comparison, the worst offense in the NFL last season was the Bears at 4.5 yards per play. Something has to give, and there is a good chance that something will be head coach Brian Callahan before the season is over.
As for how the Titans try to move the ball, that is a tricky question. Their offense ranks last in passing offense DVOA and 28th in rushing offense DVOA, though a lot of their rushing production has come on a few chunk plays and/or at times when the defense is giving them space to operate. The Titans have seemingly tried to protect QB Cam Ward by limiting how aggressive he is, ranking 25th in pass rate over expectation and playing very slow and methodical football. Nearly every Titans drive early in games, when they are still in them, start with a run or a short pass and sets up a second and long situation. It is very rare that Tennessee even attempts anything in the intermediate range on early downs while the game is in question. Likewise, the Titans rank near the bottom of the league in both pre-snap motion and motion at the snap of the ball. This is a very static and vanilla approach that is likely designed to simplify things for their rookie quarterback, but it is instead leaving him as a sitting duck. Amplifying matters is the fact that Tennessee simply lacks difference making talents or game breaking athletes who could overcome the lack of creativity from the scheme. This offense looks eerily similar to what we saw from the Panthers in Bryce Young’s rookie season, with a lot of players we can convince ourselves are “good” but all of whom are best suited for complementary roles. The Titans offensive line ranks 22nd in adjusted line yards per carry and has been below average, though not terrible in pass protection. The simple fact is that defenses don’t have to be very aggressive against them because there is not a lot of fear of what they are going to create on their own, so teams can sit back and let them beat themselves. This strategy basically sums up how Arizona likes to play defense, preferring to sit in shell coverages and blitzing at a relatively low rate. This conservative style of defense prefers to keep things in front of them and force opponents to march down the field without beating themselves. That has been a problem for Tennessee so far this season.
The aforementioned supporting cast for Ward is a bit of a revolving door. At running back, Tony Pollard has carried the load and accounted for basically all of the backfield work while games are still in question, but Tyjae Spears is expected to return to the lineup in Week 5 after starting the year on Injured Reserve. Spears and Pollard will likely form some form of a committee and the explosive Spears may add an element to the offense that has been missing while also keeping Pollard fresh and making him more efficient. Anything can help right now for this struggling offense. At wide receiver, presumed WR1 Calvin Ridley has been a ghost and is now dealing with knee and elbow injuries that held him out of practice to start the week. Promising rookie Elic Ayomanor and the ghost of Tyler Lockett led the receiving corps in Week 5, with Ridley, rookie Chimere Dike, and veteran Van Jefferson also mixing in. The Titans use multiple tight ends, with Chig Okonkwo and rookie Gunnar Helm each seeing the field and Helm drawing praise from coaches this week who say his role should expand.
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