The Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts will have their first of two meetings this season in Week 4 on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium. Both teams will meet again in Week 7 in Nashville.
It has been a rough start to the 2022 campaign for both teams. While their defenses have been solid overall, the offenses have struggled mightily, leading the Titans to a 1-2 start and the Colts to a 1-1-1 start.
While the Colts dominated the Titans for years to the tune of a 19-5 record from 2008 through 2019, Tennessee has gotten the better of Indianapolis recently, winning four of the last five, including each of the last three.
Despite Tennessee’s recent success that has also included a pair of division titles, Indianapolis was the preseason favorite to win the AFC South.
Right now, neither team is in first place with the Jacksonville Jaguars starting out 2-1, but a Jacksonville loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4 would open the door for the winning team to move into first place.
With just days to go, here’s a look at the Titans’ reasons for optimism and concern for Sunday.
Optimism and concern: Colts' offense
While Tennessee’s offense has been nothing to write home about after three games, the Colts haven’t been any better. In fact, Indianapolis is averaging just 13.3 points per game, the lowest mark in the NFL.
Matt Ryan has not played well, but it hasn’t helped that his pass protection has been shoddy, also, with the Colts surrendering 12 sacks through three games, the fourth-most in the NFL.
This is great news for Tennessee, as its offense is averaging just 17 points per game in total and can’t afford to get into a shootout.
With the way Tennessee’s defense has played, and with how bad the Colts’ offense has been, the Titans likely won’t have to put up a ton of points in order to win this game.
With all that said, the Colts shouldn’t be underestimated by any stretch, as their offense still includes a pair of top-notch talents in running back Jonathan Taylor and wide receiver Michael Pittman.
Pittman has burned the Titans on multiple occasions before, but Tennessee has actually done a good job limiting Taylor. Still, the Titans have struggled both against the run and pass this season, making it very possible Pittman and/or Taylor take this game over.
Concern: Colts' run defense
Indianapolis’ defense has no shortage of talent to begin with, but their run defense has been especially good to start the season. The Colts are ceding just 77 rushing yards per game, the third-lowest mark in the league.
As is always the case, the Titans are going to look to lean on the run game with Derrick Henry to get their offense going, but doing so was a struggle through two games before Henry got on track in Week 3.
Tennessee’s offensive line had its best game run-blocking in Week 3, but that came after two horrible showings the first two weeks. The jury is still very much out on this group, especially against an elite run defense like Indy’s.
Optimism: (Potential) return of Bud Dupree
Already missing Harold Landry for the season, the Titans were even more shorthanded at outside linebacker in Week 3, as Bud Dupree was ruled out with a hip injury.
Tennessee’s pass-rush was still able to perform better than expected thanks to Jeffery Simmons, Denico Autry and Rashad Weaver, but there’s no question this defense is better (and faster) with Dupree on the field.
Dupree started off the week with a full practice, giving optimism he’ll suit up in Week 4, but he also saw a downgrade in participation on Thursday after getting in a limited session.
Hopefully it was just a half day off for Dupree and not a sign he suffered a setback. We’ll have to keep an eye on Friday’s injury report to be sure.
Concern: (Potential) return of Darius Leonard
As we already mentioned, the Colts’ run defense has been very good this season, and that’s without Shaquille Leonard on the field. Leonard has missed the first three games as he continues to work his way back from back surgery.
While, Leonard has fully participated in practice each of the first two days of the week, that doesn’t guarantee he’ll play after he practiced fully each of the last two weeks before being ruled out.
“We shall see,” Leonard said when asked if he’ll play in Week 4.
If he plays, an already tough Colts defense will get even tougher, especially against the run.
Concern: Titans' second-half woes
Tennessee’s offense in and of itself is obviously a concern, but at least we’ve seen some impressive flashes over the first three games. However, we have seen no signs of progress that things are getting better for this unit when it comes to its performance in the second half.
The Titans have been shutout in the second halves of each of the last two games, and Tennessee has scored just seven points in total in the final two quarters of games this season.
Tennessee has to do a better job of putting together a full 60 minutes in order to close out games, something they couldn’t do against the New York Giants in Week 1, and something they barely were able to do against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 3. Let’s not even talk about Week 2, please and thank you.
Adding to the concerns about Tennessee’s second-half woes, the Colts have been a good second-half team on offense for the most part, scoring 27 of their 40 total points in the final two quarters of games.
Optimism and concern: Titans' defense
Tennessee’s defense played a huge role in the team’s 24-10 halftime lead standing up in Week 3. The unit once again wasn’t great against the run or pass by any stretch, but it never broke no matter how much it bent.
The Titans held the Raiders to just 2-of-6 in the red zone and an astounding 1-for-13 on third downs. Kristian Fulton’s return was the biggest difference-maker, but guys like Weaver, Simmons, Autry, Roger McCreary and Kevin Byard also stepped up big time, with Byard making a few huge plays.
In all, Tennessee’s secondary held Davante Adams and Darren Waller to a combined eight catches for 58 yards and one touchdown in Week 3, which breeds plenty of hope Fulton and Co. can stop Pittman and force another member of Indianapolis’ unheralded receiving corps. to beat them.
Even without Landry, there is no shortage of talent on this defense and it’s more than capable of carrying this team when necessary. The problem is Tennessee has had to depend on that too much and needs more from the offense.
On the flip side, the Titans’ cornerback options beyond Fulton and McCreary have been awful, leaving a big hole at slot cornerback with Elijah Molden on injured reserve.
Adding to that concern, we still don’t know for sure if Dupree will play, although it looks like he’s on track to do so, and Zach Cunningham is trending in the wrong direction after missing two straight practices.
Cunningham’s potential absence would come at a terrible time in particular with the 2021 rushing champion set to lead Indy’s offense in Week 4.
