The Tennessee Titans lost their fourth-straight contest in gut-wrenching fashion after dropping one to the Los Angeles Chargers, 17-14.
Truthfully, when you consider all the injuries the Titans have been dealing with, the game was much closer than it probably should have been.
Unfortunately, there are no moral victories in the NFL, and the reality is they are on the verge of one of the most embarrassing collapses in recent memory.
At one point, this Titans team essentially had a four-game lead over the entire division, but they have now washed that away by allowing the Jaguars to claw their way back into the race.
Tennessee now enters the final three weeks of the season with a one-game lead over Jacksonville, and it’s possible we have a play-in game in Week 18.
Yesterday was a microcosm of everything that is wrong with this 2022 Titans team. Injuries and poor roster building as of late have forced this team to be overly reliant on several players who are probably better suited for a reserve role.
With all that said, let’s take a closer look at what stood out after looking at yesterday’s snap counts from a depleted Titans roster.
Snap counts and takeaways: Offense
- Dillon Radunz finally got his chance to play left tackle and did a good enough job in a small sample size. In total, he played 15 snaps before an injury sidelined him for the rest of the day.
- Rookie quarterback Malik Willis logged a total of 10 snaps on offense after Ryan Tannehill temporarily went down with an ankle injury.
- Wide receiver Racey McMath saw his snaps decrease from 22 in his return from injury in Week 14, to 14 in Week 15.
- Robert Woods and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine continued to get their cardio in, with both accounting for over 50 snaps on offense, yet only combining for a measly two catches for 12 yards.
- Rookie Chig Okonkwo is slowly but surely starting to become the primary tight end for this offense. The Maryland product out-snapped his entire position group on Sunday after being on the field for approximately 60 percent of the snaps. Chig has now out-snapped Geoff Swaim and played over 30 snaps three weeks in a row.
- Corey Levin saw increased playing time after Nate Davis went down with an injury. Levin played a total of 18 snaps on the day (29 percent).
Snap counts and takeaways: Defense
- Dylan Cole played just 19 snaps before suffering an injury. Rookie Jack Gibbens got the nod in his place, playing a career-high 33 snaps.
- Defensive backs Andrew Adams, Greg Mabin, Joshua Kalu, and John Reid all stepped up and played over 30 defensive snaps in relief for the Titans’ starting secondary.
- Reid joined the Titans on December 6th and logged a total of 33 snaps in just his second game. He saw increased playing time with Terrance Mitchell getting hurt.
- Monty Rice continues to show that he’s finally healthy again after playing over 90 percent of the defensive snaps on Sunday (64 plays). He’s seen an increase in snaps with both David Long and Zach Cunningham on the shelf.
