The Tennessee Titans are in the midst of making their final preparations for their massive West coast trip to Los Angeles to take on the surging Chargers.
These two AFC teams may enter Sunday’s contest with identical 7-6 records, but these two teams couldn’t feel further apart at the moment.
Los Angeles is heating up at the right time, winning two out of its last three outings, while Tennessee is just trying to avoid the first four-game losing streak of the Mike Vrabel era.
Truthfully, the team hasn’t even been competitive as of late. In total, the Titans have been outscored 71-32 over their last eight quarters of football.
Despite all this, the upcoming battle between these two playoff hopefuls has several interesting matchups, both individually and collectively.
Now, let’s take a deeper dive into three specific matchups that will likely play a large role in determining Sunday’s outcome between the Titans and the Chargers.
Chargers’ pass-catchers vs. Titans’ secondary
The Titans’ secondary once again faces the daunting task of defending a formidable receiving group with a depleted squad on the backend.
Tennessee is set to be without two of their best cornerbacks, Kristian Fulton (groin) and Tre Avery (concussion), for the second straight week. To make matters worse, starting safety Amani Hooker will also be sidelined.
This time it’s a knee issue that’s preventing the Iowa product from seeing the field after battling groin, shoulder, and concussion issues earlier in the year.
Obviously, that’s less than ideal circumstances when you’re scheduled to face a group of pass-catchers that includes Mike Williams, Keenan Allen, Joshua Palmer, and Gerald Everett.
It will be up to Kevin Byard, Roger McCreary, and Andrew Adams, among others, to limit the Chargers’ skill players from taking this game over. If LA’s weaponry can consistently make its presence felt, it could be a long day for a banged-up Titans defense.
Dennis Daley vs. Khalil Mack
This individual matchup has the potential to be an absolute disaster.
Chargers edge rusher Khalil Mack is every bit of a Hall of Fame talent. Meanwhile, when it comes to Titans offensive tackle Dennis Daley, well, let’s just say he’s not exactly a Hall of Fame-caliber talent.
According to Pro Football Focus, Daley currently leads the league in sacks allowed (11) and pressures allowed (40) despite logging fewer snaps than over 100 different offensive linemen.
Daley is also well on pace to set the highest sack percentage by any offensive tackle since the start of the 2014 season (2.93 percent).
Highest sack/pressure % allowed in a single season by an OT.
After Week 14 Dennis Daley increases his lead for the sack % record and makes up ground on the pressure rate leaderboard. pic.twitter.com/l1xo3YVw55
— James Foster (@NoFlagsFilm) December 13, 2022
On top of all this, the South Carolina product currently has an underwhelming overall PFF grade of 49.2 at the moment.
Mack, on the other hand, is having another strong season, accounting for over 10 tackles for loss and seven sacks while recording a respectable overall PFF grade of 74.1 in the process.
Needless to say, it’s a pretty safe conclusion that Mack will have his fair share of opportunities against the Titans’ struggling offensive linemen on Sunday.
Tennessee has to figure out a way to help Daley in order to prevent Mack from single-handedly wrecking the game. If the Titans are able to accomplish this, they should give themselves a puncher’s chance against a talented Chargers team.
Derrick Henry vs. Chargers run defense
With rookie wide receiver Treylon Burks being sidelined for the second straight week due to a concussion, it will once again be up to Derrick Henry and the ground game to lead the way for the Titans’ struggling offense.
Fortunately for the Titans, they are set to face a Chargers run defense that ranks 28th in the league at the moment, allowing an average of 147 yards per contest after 13 games.
L.A. will be missing Joey Bosa and Christian Covington along the front line, with fearless safety Derwin James and defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day looking like game-time decisions at the moment.
If the Titans are going to head back to Nashville with an 8-6 record, they must take advantage of this struggling and banged-up run defense by getting Henry rolling again similarly to last weekend.
However, this time around, they need to put themselves in a position to stick with the ground game for four consecutive quarters. If Tennessee can do so, they’ll likely be in a prime position to pull off the impressive upset on the road.
