Titans Need to Improve in These Areas During Their Bye Week
Photo Credit: Alex Brandon/Associated Press
After five games and currently in their bye week, the Tennessee Titans are 3-2 and are now first in the AFC South.
However, after narrowly beating the Washington Commanders last week in a game where Carson Wentz threw an interception to David Long Jr in the final moments of the game, it seems as if the Titans are used to edging out tense and super close-scoring games.
Their current three game win streak has all come by beating their opponents by seven points or less. Although a win is a win, at some point the Titans will have to win games convincingly to prove that they are not an easy team to play against.
Another thing the Titans will have to improve on is the ability to stay healthy.
The Titans this season have already used 64 players in five games. Last year, they set the NFL record for most players used in a season with 91.
The hope is that key players will return to the offensive and defensive side of the ball potentially after this bye week.
On the defensive side, The linebacker room has taken a hit with injuries to Zach Cunningham, Bud Dupree and Ola Adeniyi. All have missed multiple games so far this season and have caused the Titans to use players like Dylan Cole who is normally a special teams player and Joe Schobert who was just picked up to be on the practice squad.
Linebacker Monty Rice recently was designated to return last week and can return anytime now.
Elijah Molden who played mainly in the nickel last season was placed on injured reserve before the season. Hopefully, he can come back soon to sure up this defensive back room that has dealt with mixing players in and out due to injuries.
Number one cornerback Kristian Fulton has missed a game, starting safety Amani Hooker has missed the last two games, and last year’s first-round pick Caleb Farley has not looked comfortable playing the position and has been benched multiple times for his poor play.
For the offense, first-round rookie wide receiver Treylon Burks was put on injured reserve after suffering a turf toe injury against the Colts in week four.
Losing the person who the Titans believed can be their AJ Brown replacement and produce up to the level of Brown has not looked great so far.
But still, with Burks being out, he is certainly a better option than the receivers they have down the depth chart and not to mention those on the practice squad.
Also, the passing game has been less than ideal as the Titans passing offense is ranked 29th in the league and is only averaging 175.4 yards per game.
The bright spot is that Derrick Henry looks like his old self as he posted back-to-back 100-yard rushing games and has been involved in the passing game.
Finally, the most glaring improvement that needs to be made is still the offensive production in the second half.
The Titans have now been outscored 71-14 in the five games they have played. They were finally able to score a touchdown in the third quarter against the Commanders after failing to put up any points in their three previous games.
Another thing to note is that the Titans are the first team to not score a point in the fourth quarter through five games since the 2005 49ers who started 1-4.
It is amazing that the Titans are 3-2 despite all of these circumstances but hopefully, this bye week gives them enough time to fix all of it.
