The Tennessee Titans have the unenviable task of facing the Miami Dolphins in Week 14 on “Monday Night Football” in a game that will take place at Hard Rock Stadium.
This is quite the daunting matchup for Tennessee, a team that has seen its defense struggle for much of the season — and those struggles have mostly been a result of poor coverage.
Now, the Titans will have to deal with the likes of Tyreek Hill, who is an MVP candidate, and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, amongst many other impressive weapons Miami is sporting.
The good news is, the Titans’ playoff hopes are all but officially dead and a loss will likely improve their draft positioning, which at this point is paramount considering the rebuild Tennessee needs after 2023.
Ahead of what is absolutely an awful matchup for the Titans, here are the five biggest questions for the team going into the game against the Dolphins.
Can Will Levis rebound?
Levis was only partly to blame for his struggles in Week 13 (more on that shortly), but he struggled nonetheless.
The most glaring issue was his putting the ball in harm’s way far too often. Levis still managed to show flashes and made some impressive throws, and particularly in the overtime drive that resulted in a field goal.
Nobody is expecting Levis to look like Peyton Manning in his prime. He just needs to keep showing positive things over the final five games in which he’ll gain valuable experience ahead of his sophomore campaign.
He should have ample opportunity to make plays in Week 14, with the Titans expected to play catch-up against the high-powered Dolphins.
Can the offensive line just be respectable?
While run-blocking was excellent, the rest of the blame for Levis’ struggles in Week 13 were the result of — you guessed it — poor pass protection.
The entire unit was lackluster in pass pro, to say the least, and rookie left tackle Jaelyn Duncan took a step back after a solid debut in Week 12.
We know damn well this group as is isn’t going to get fixed, but at the very least the offensive line can play more respectable football and do a slightly better job of keeping Levis clean and upright.
Tennessee will catch a break with Dolphins stud edge rusher Jaelan Phillips out for the season, but Miami still has five other players with four or more sacks.
Bottom line: this one could get ugly.
Will Derrick Henry play?
It was initially reported that Henry was in the concussion protocol, but head coach Mike Vrabel later revealed that was not the case and Henry is doing fine.
As of right now, it looks like he’ll suit up. If he doesn’t, Tyjae Spears has shown he’s more than capable of leading the backfield.
Still, not having Henry on the field no doubt makes this offense worse.
His mere presence forces defenses to bring extra help, which opens things up down the field. Also, getting him going helps sustain long drives and keeps the ball out of the hands of an explosive offense like Miami’s.
Can the defense avoid embarrassment?
The Titans won’t have Jeffery Simmons for this game, which will be a blow to both the pass-rush and run defense, both of which have been disappointing, even with him on the field.
Kristian Fulton’s status is also up in the air, but I’m not sure his absence would make much of an impact, if any.
The Dolphins enter this game as the most explosive offense in the NFL, with a passing attack that ranks first and a rushing attack that ranks second.
Barring a miracle, it’s going to be a long night for the Titans’ defense.
How will the special teams look?
This will be the first game for special teams assistant Tom Quinn in the lead role for the Titans after Craig Aukerman was fired.
Quinn has a ton of coaching experience with 32 years under his belt, 10 of which was spent as the special teams coordinator of the New York Giants.
However, he’s just an interim coach right now and there’s no guarantee he’ll be able to keep the job past 2023. How the Titans’ special teams units do in these next five games will determine that.
Quinn has a lot to try and fix in a short time, with the return units being the biggest issues. And, more specifically, blocking for punts will especially be under the microscope after what we saw last week.
If the Titans can show at least some improvement on both sides of the ball in those areas, it’ll be a huge boost for Quinn’s chances.
Ty Zentner will be the next man up at punter after the Titans signed him on Wednesday. Neither he nor many people in this world have the leg power Ryan Stonehouse does, so he’ll no doubt be a downgrade, which isn’t something we can hold against Quinn.
Zentner will also be the new holder. Hopefully Quinn will have him more prepared than Aukerman had Ryan Tannehill last week.
