In their Week 9 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Tennessee Titans will be looking to do something they haven’t done yet this season: win back-to-back games.
The Titans snapped their first losing streak of the 2023 campaign in Week 8 with a 28-23 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. In the process, the franchise received new hope after an outstanding performance from rookie signal-caller, Will Levis.
But before they can get that elusive winning streak going, the Titans have to grab a win in a tough environment in Pittsburgh, where the team hasn’t won since 2013 and sports a two-game losing streak.
Making matters worse, the Titans are winless on the road this season and have struggled mightily away from home. That’s just one of the reasons for concern going into this Thursday night matchup against the Steelers.
Optimism and concern: QB Will Levis
There is no question Levis has given Titans fans a source of hope after what he did in Week 8, with the rookie signal-caller leading Tennessee to its best scoring output since 2021.
However, he’s also a rookie quarterback making his second start on the road in prime time against a tough Steelers defense. We’ll know a lot more about Levis based on how he performs on Thursday night.
All that said, if the Titans can protect Levis (more on that later) and he can play with the same poise he displayed last week, he has a good shot to thrive against a Steelers defense giving up the ninth-most passing yards per game. Further, Pittsburgh’s secondary won’t have safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Concern: Titans' struggles on the road
The Titans enter this game with an 0-3 record on the road, and they’re 0-4 in total away from Nissan Stadium when you factor in the London game in which Tennessee was considered the home team.
Adding to that, the Titans haven’t won in Pittsburgh since 2013 and have lost each of their last two matchups on the Steelers’ home turf.
In their four contests away from Nashville this season, the Titans are scoring a pathetic 12.5 points per contest and are giving up 22.5 points per.
Of course, those aforementioned four games were with Ryan Tannehill under center. The Titans will hope Levis has much more success than his predecessor.
Concern: Steelers OLB T.J. Watt
The Steelers have totaled the 11th-most sacks in the NFL this season, which is a concern in and of itself, especially when you consider the Titans’ offensive line has struggled overall in pass protection this season.
The biggest reason the Steelers have found the quarterback that much in 2023 is because of none other than superstar pass-rusher, T.J. Watt, who has 8.5 sacks, tied for the third-most in the league.
Watt is the definition of a game-wrecker and is fully capable of abusing the Titans’ suspect offensive line that isn’t expected to have starting right tackle, Chris Hubbard, who has been among Tennessee’s more consistent linemen this year.
In his stead, the Titans figure to slide Nicholas Petit-Frere to right tackle and will deploy Andre Dillard at left tackle, which is how they covered Hubbard on Sunday after he exited early.
NPF will draw the matchup against Watt, who lines up against the right tackle. The Titans must give their second-year lineman as much help as possible or it could be a long night.
Optimism: Steelers' offense
With Levis making his first start on the road in prime time, it’s certainly possible he’ll have some struggles, which could lead to a lackluster effort from the offense overall.
The good news is, the Titans may not have to score a lot of points to win this game. As bad as the Titans have been at scoring points (18.9 per game), the Steelers have been even worse, with the team averaging just 16.1 points per contest, the fourth-fewest in the NFL.
Potentially making matters worse for Pittsburgh is the fact that quarterback Kenny Pickett, who has had his issues this season, could be playing at less than 100 percent on a short week after suffering a rib injury on Sunday.
Pickett has said he will play, but if for some reason he doesn’t, the Steelers will be forced to start Mitch Trubisky, which may not be any better.
No matter who is under center for the Steelers, the Titans must win upfront to pressure the opposing signal-caller, as Tennessee’s secondary is susceptible to getting burnt, especially against a talented duo of pass-catchers like George Pickens and Diontae Johnson.
Optimism: Steelers' run defense
One way the Titans can make Levis’ life a bit easier on Thursday night is to get the running game going to help take pressure off and setup the play-action, something they were able to do in Week 8.
The Titans should be able to do that against a Pittsburgh unit that is ceding the sixth-most rushing yards per game (137.1) in the NFL. However, the Titans doing that is hardly a given, seeing as how the offensive line has struggled in run-blocking this year.
