The Tennessee Titans are looking to get to over .500 for the first time this season in what will be their first divisional matchup of the year against the Indianapolis Colts.
While Tennessee comes into this game off a win over the Cincinnati Bengals, the Colts are looking to rebound from an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Buy Titans TicketsThe winner of this game will have at least a share of first place, but it’s also possible the winner will have sole possession if the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans both lose.
The Titans have dominated the Colts in recent years, winning six of the last seven matchups between these two teams, including each of the last five. That’s a far cry from how things went during the Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck eras.
If the Titans want to keep their winning streak over the Colts going, they can help their chances big time by doing these three things on Sunday:
Keep Anthony Richardson in the pocket
The Titans’ pass-rush must finish when it gets pressure and can’t over-pursue, otherwise Richardson will make back-breaking plays with his legs, or simply extend them, leaving a vulnerable Tennessee secondary in coverage for far longer than it needs to be.
The Titans need to keep Richardson in the pocket, neutralize his biggest strength and force him to win this game with his arm.
Attack the rookie starters
The Colts will be starting a pair of rookies in this game, with Freeland, who we already mentioned is starting at left tackle, and cornerback JuJu Brents.
An already shaky Colts secondary recently lost starting corner Dallis Flowers for the season, leaving the second-round pick in his place. Brents has been targeted 12 times this season, allowing 10 completions for 88 yards, good enough for a passer rating against of 97.1.
The Titans should look to test the young corner early and often, and any time they can get a matchup with Brents and DeAndre Hopkins, the ball should be going the veteran’s way. I’d like to see them attack him down the field, also, which could mean big plays for Hopkins and Chris Moore.
Freeland got the nod last week in place of Raimann and gave up four pressures but no sacks. In fairness to Freeland, he had a rough assignment, with the rookie seeing a lot of Los Angeles Rams superstar, Aaron Donald.
We saw what Tennessee did to an inexperienced left tackle in Week 1 in Trevor Penning, and I’d expect a similar result here, with guys like Arden Key, Trevis Gipson and Jeffery Simmons giving Freeland big problems.
Don't abandon last week's early-down approach
Titans offensive coordinator Tim Kelly had plenty of tricks in the bag last week, but it was his early-down play-calling that really shined, which no doubt kept Cincinnati’s defense off balance.
We need more of the same this week.
The Colts’ No. 22 run defense will almost surely be selling out to stop Henry from the jump, so Kelly needs to dial up more early-down pass plays (and play-action) like he did last week, an approach that should be especially successful against an Indy pass defense that ranks 28th.
If the Titans can get rolling with that approach and the Colts have to respect the pass on first and second down, it’ll soften up the boxes for Henry, who should wreak havoc as a result.
