Coming off a win last week, the Tennessee Titans will look to move to 2-1 in a Week 3 road matchup against the Cleveland Browns.
The Browns are in the same boat, although they took a different path to this point, as Cleveland dropped its Week 2 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers after winning in Week 1.
Buy Titans TicketsWhile 2-1 is obviously better than 1-2, the latter start isn’t the end of the world.
Since the playoffs expanded to 14 teams in 2020, a total of 10 squads have made the playoffs following a 1-2 start, which is nearly 25 percent of the playoff teams in that span, per CBS News Minnesota.
So, how can the Titans avoid a 1-2 start? We take a look at that now with three keys to victory for Tennessee in its showdown with Cleveland.
Win the field position battle
With yards being hard to come by thanks to Tennessee’s elite run defense and the Browns sporting both an elite run and pass defense, field position will be huge in this game.
Thankfully, the Titans have one of the best punters in the business in Ryan Stonehouse, who gives Tennessee a massive advantage when it comes to being able to flip the field.
But that won’t matter if Ryan Tannehill turns the ball over. The veteran signal-caller must take care of the football and not give the Browns extra possessions and short fields.
Also, Tennessee’s defense can make things easier on the offense by nabbing a few turnovers off Deshaun Watson, who has been a shell of himself since going to Cleveland.
Being able to do that starts with getting pressure, which the Titans should be able to do plenty of in this matchup.
The Browns have given up nine sacks over two games, tied for fifth in the NFL. While Cleveland’s offensive line play hasn’t been great, Watson also tends to hold the ball for too long.
One way you can tell that’s the case is by the Browns ranking third in pass-block win rate, which measures how often a pass-rusher is able to beat his block within 2.5 seconds.
The Browns’ offensive line is missing Jack Conklin, leaving rookie Dawand Jones in his place. Jones gave up five pressures last week and is someone the Titans should be focusing on.
But left tackle Jedrick Wills has been susceptible to giving up pressures, too, with nine over two games, including five last week alone.
Be less predictable
As we already stated, the Browns sport an elite defense, both against the pass and run, so moving the ball won’t be easy. It’ll be even harder if the Titans are predictable in their play-calling.
When Derrick Henry is on the field on early downs, the expectation is he’s going to run the football. Tennessee needs to keep Cleveland on its toes by showing that is not always the case, both with and without play-action.
Offensive coordinator Tim Kelly can draw up more passing plays on early downs, especially when Henry is on the field. And, to take it a step further, Kelly needs to utilize more play-action on those early downs.
Not only will that help Tennessee be less predictable, it’ll help Tannehill, who thrives in play-action, as we saw last week with those two deep shots to Chris Moore and Treylon Burks, both of which came on first downs.
If Tennessee can establish that throwing the ball on early downs is a real thing they’re committed to doing, it’ll help soften the boxes Henry faces, which are often stacked with eight or more defenders.
Kelly has done a great job of making things unpredictable when Tyjae Spears is out there, which is part of the reason why the rookie is averaging 6.9 yards per carry.
Spears must continue to be involved, of course, but Kelly has to find a way to do the same with Henry in order to get the ground game going.
Limit Za'Darius Smith's and Myles Garrett's impact
Another week, another pair of talented edge rushers the Titans have to deal with. First it was Carl Granderson and Cameron Jordan, then Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack, and now it’s Myles Garrett and Za’Darius Smith.
Nobody is expecting the Titans to completely blank Garrett or Smith in this game, but they have to limit their impact. When it comes to Garrett specifically, that is going to take a village.
Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has been moving Garrett around so far this year, with the star pass-rusher even lining up over the middle at inside linebacker, where he’s notched his lone sack.
Tennessee group upfront has to be aware of where Garrett is at all times, because there’s no guarantee he’ll be in the same spot two plays in a row.
Left tackle Andre Dillard has been the team’s weakest link in pass protection through two games, which is of particular concern in this matchup. The Titans must give him help.
I’m less concerned about right tackle Chris Hubbard considering he’s been very good over the first two games. But it wouldn’t be shocking to see a dip in performance against this duo.
One way to slow the duo down is to get the ground game going, but the Titans can also help neutralize their impact by drawing up plays to get the ball out of Tannehill’s hands quickly.
Of course, Tannehill, who tends to hold the ball for too long, has to actually unload it for that to work. Holding on to the ball for too long in this one could spell disaster for Tennessee’s offense.
