After leaving Lambeau Field with a convincing 27-17 win over the Green Bay Packers in Week 11, the Tennessee Titans presumably feel good about their current standing in the AFC playoff picture. Last week’s win follows an 0-2 start — that second loss a complete undressing at the hands of the Buffalo Bills back in September.
But since that embarrassing 41-7 loss on Monday Night Football, the Titans have won seven of eight, and they were one Patrick Mahomes 2-point conversion away from an eight-game win streak. Tennessee’s five straight wins from Week 3 to Week 9 constitute the third-longest streak in the NFL this season, behind only the Philadelphia Eagles (eight) and Minnesota Vikings (seven).
Though the Titans are still one of the worst offensive units in the NFL, they’re also one of the more sound defensive teams around. Tennessee has one of if not the best front seven in the NFL, boasting the top-ranked run defense, which allows just 82.2 rushing yards per game, and a league-high 224 quarterback pressures.
Here’s how Tennessee ranks offensively and defensively compared to the rest of the league: Total offense 30th; passing offense 29th; rushing offense 11th; scoring offense 24th. Total defense 17th; passing defense 31st; run defense first; scoring defense seventh.
As we cross the 10-game mark, let’s take a further look at a few things to keep an eye on over the final seven regular-season games.
Player to Watch: Ryan Tannehill
Derrick Henry could very easily earn this title. But I’d argue that how Tannehill performs over the final seven games will determine how Henry plays.
Let me explain.
Henry leads the league with 230 carries — 32 more than the next-closest running back — and if the Titans want to keep him fresh come playoff time, it would be wise to run him a little less than 23 times per game. If Tannehill can extend the momentum he found the past two weeks in wins over the Broncos and Packers — the first- and third-ranked pass defenses, mind you — it might incentivize the Titans to throw it a little more and run a little less. Throw in a few Dontrell Hilliard receptions out of the backfield and a couple of carries here and there, and Henry could have mostly fresh legs when the playoffs roll around.
While Tannehill was almost a nonfactor in four of his previous six starts, he’s really come on strong since returning from a high ankle sprain. He turned the ball over just once and threw for a combined 588 passing yards and four touchdowns against two of the top three passing defenses, and he excels at spreading the ball around.
Against Denver, seven different players had at least one reception, and that number jumped to eight against Green Bay. Tannehill uses his running backs and tight ends as well as anyone, and his two-game run of strong performances should at least give defensive coordinators something to think about when planning to face the Titans.
Game to Watch: Week 13 at Philadelphia Eagles
This story basically wrote itself on draft night when the Titans traded disgruntled receiver A.J. Brown to the Eagles and promptly drafted his replacement, Treylon Burks. The Week 13 matchup in Philly will already be a high-stakes affair with both the Titans and the Eagles jockeying for playoff seeding at the top of their respective conferences, but throw in the Brown drama and this is a can’t-miss game.
As of this writing, Brown ranks fifth in the NFL in touchdown catches (six) and ninth in receiving yards (725), and he ranks in the top 25 in both receptions (44) and targets (73). His 16.5 yards per reception are his best since his rookie season, and he’s a big reason why the Eagles rank in the top 10 in passing yards per game.
While Burks isn’t having quite the remarkable season Brown is, he did just have a breakout game against the Packers, logging seven receptions on eight targets for his first 100-yard game. After being a target just four times per game in his first four starts, Burks has been targeted an average of seven times over his past two outings.
“Anytime you can make some plays, it gives you a lot of confidence as a player,” Tannehill recently said of Burks. “I felt like that was coming early on in the year, before Indy when he went out. Now he’s getting back into it. Definitely happy [with] the way he played the game. Made some big plays for us. He’s obviously a talented player, and I want to keep him going.”
Playoff Outlook: Strong
According to ESPN, the Titans’ playoff chances shot up to 90 percent following their win over Green Bay. They’re one of just three teams in the AFC with at least seven wins, and they hold a three-game lead in the AFC South over the Indianapolis Colts — a team Tennessee has beaten twice this year.
The Titans (7-3) currently occupy the No. 3 seed in the AFC behind the Kansas City Chiefs (7-2 at press time) and Miami Dolphins (7-3), and they currently have the 12th-easiest remaining schedule in the league. Tennessee’s remaining seven opponents have a combined 31-33-1 record (47.6 winning percentage).
“We have a group of fighters,” Titans safety Kevin Byard recently said. “As long as we continue to keep going up, we’ll be playing football in January and February.”
