We are zooming into week 6 of the 2019 NFL, as we’ll have the glorious honor of watching the Tennessee Titans take on the Denver Broncos.
Obviously that’s sarcasm, as both of these teams just don’t have much that would give you uncontrollable excitement. But lucky for us, these 2 teams have some personalities that makes this matchup somewhat interesting.
The Titans are coming off a loss to the Bills in which their offense played like it has for the majority of the year, unorganized, stagnant, and full of too much failure.
I could go in depth about what’s wrong with this offense, but the thing is, I already have. The Titans don’t have a good OL, the offense itself is extremely inconsistent, and the QB manning the offense gives off too many causes for concern.
The defense however, is great and will need to stay great if the Titans want any sort of shot at winning games.
The Broncos are coming off a surprising win on the road against the Los Angeles Chargers. Their 2 headed rushing attack, in the forms of Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman, made enough plays to mask the deficiencies of Joe Flacco.
More on those 2 later.
The defense did their job and shut down a pretty explosive Chargers offense. Phillip Rivers didn’t throw for a single touchdown and Keenan Allen was held to 4 catches for 18 yards.
Pretty good effort is I say so myself.
The Titans need a win to get back to .500, and the Broncos need a win to keep themselves further out of the discussion that they could be sellers at the trade deadline.
Let’s get going ladies and gentleman.
1. Can This Titans OL Block Anyone?
Before you get mad, it’s a valid question. This entire Titans OL has played some pretty poor football through the first 5 or so games of this season. There’s been constant pressure, pressure that’s not allowed this offense to function half of the time.
I mean seriously, where are the solutions for this OL? Do you swing Conklin inside? What about Ben Jones? Nate Davis didn’t have his proudest game on Sunday. Roger Saffold is going through the worst stretch of play he’s had in his entire career. Not to mention, Taylor Lewan didn’t look his best last week.
Marcus Mariota better be thanking himself for putting on the extra weight.
Because quite frankly, if he didn’t, the hits he’s taken so far might’ve landed him on the injury report.
I won’t put total blame on the OL here, as Marcus Mariota has had a very bad tendency to hang on to the ball longer than he should.
But this OL isn’t free from any less than half of the blame for this total snoozefest of a Titans offense so far.
2. The “Will Marcus Mariota Be a Liability Or a Bright Spot?” Question Is Getting Old
There’s been no shortage of disappointment in this Titans offense. While the protection hasn’t been at its best, Marcus Mariota hasn’t been at his best either.
Mariota hasn’t played consistent football this season. In fact, his only game where he didn’t give off any feelings of massive disappointment was week 4 against the Falcons.
Who, if you didn’t know, just gave up 53 points to the Texans last week.
Mariota is simply too 1 dimensional, in regards to his success on different pass concepts.
- Mariota WITH Play Action: 32 of 51 (62.7%) for 626 yards (12.3 YPA) and 5 TDs
- Mariota WITHOUT Play Action: 55 of 90 (61.1%) for 490 yards (5.4 YPA) and 2 TDs
Stats courtesy of Mike Herndon from TitansMCM
Mariota has to be sharp in all aspects, but he won’t have it easy against a Broncos defense that still features PLENTY of playmakers.
If Mariota can’t elevate this offense to the best of his ability, an offense that averages a mere 19.6 PPG, then the criticism towards him will only get louder and louder.
3. What’s Up With The Lack of Impact From Delanie Walker?
Count me as one of the folks who is surprised to see how this situation has developed.
Delanie Walker is one of this team’s best players, it can still be argued that he’s still one of the game’s best TEs.
So his lack of involvement in this offense is rather shocking. There isn’t a definite answer on why Walker hasn’t seen his usual share of targets.
He looks the same before his leg injury last season, so what’s the deal?
Titans OC Arthur Smith gave his explanation on the issue.
Arthur Smith on Delanie Walker's snaps and involvement. #Titans pic.twitter.com/CoM79rQsnc
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) October 10, 2019
I’ll tell you one thing though, having Walker get outsnapped by Jonnu Smith isn’t a solution to the problem of Walker’s lack of impact.
Who knows if this issue will get ironed out, but it needs to be ironed out fast. Walker’s talent is way too great to be wasted.
Walker knows that as well.
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