The Tennessee Titans are one day away from hosting the Seattle Seahawks in one of the final home games of the 2023 season.
Many fans are already looking forward to a crucial offseason in which a lot of change is expected, but the Titans still have three games left to try and build some positive momentum to close out the campaign.
Tennessee enters the weekend with a massive question mark at the quarterback position.
Rookie quarterback Will Levis returned to practice on Friday and is officially listed as questionable after he suffered an ankle injury that thankfully looked much worse than it ended up being.
If he can’t go, veteran signal-caller Ryan Tannehill will get the start against a formidable Seahawks defense. Thankfully for him, Seattle might be without its dominant young cornerback, Devon Witherspoon, who is questionable.
Should Witherspoon miss the game, Tennessee has to find a way to exploit Seattle’s secondary without him. That is just one of the key matchups the Titans have to win in order to have any chance at pulling off an upset.
Aside from that, let’s take a deeper dive into three other key matchups that we’ll be keeping a close eye on when the Titans host the Seahawks on Sunday.
RB Derrick Henry vs. LB Bobby Wagner
As we await final confirmation regarding which quarterback will play this weekend, I expect there to be a heavy workload on the ground to help whichever signal-caller is under center.
While I’m sure we’ll see our fair share of Tyjae Spears in, the matchup I’m most intrigued by revolves around two players who will likely be in Canton, Ohio someday.
It’s hardly an exaggeration to say that Derrick Henry and Bobby Wagner have been among the best at their respective positions for years now.
Henry has been on a bit of a cold streak as of late, but he’s hoping to turn things around against a Wagner-led run defense that enters the weekend as the eighth-worst unit.
To do so, the Titans’ running back will need some help from his putrid offensive line that has gotten him hit behind the line of scrimmage on approximately half of his carries, per Next Gen Stats.
If not, there’s a good chance that we could see No. 54 wreaking havoc in the backfield throughout the contest. Wagner comes into this week’s game with the third-most tackles in the league (143), earning an overall grade of 79.0, per Pro Football Focus.
Lastly, this could be one of the final times we ever see Henry wearing two-tone blue. I highly suggest Titans fans embrace every moment that he’s still out there because his legendary run could be coming to an end.
Titans' secondary vs. Seahawks’ wide receivers
This has the potential to be a completely lopsided matchup. An already weak Titans secondary is set to be without Kristian Fulton, Sean Murphy-Bunting, Amani Hooker and K’Von Wallace. To make matters worse, Tennessee is facing one of the best receiving trios in the NFL.
Roger McCreary, Eric Garror and Tre Avery will be tasked with trying to contain DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. And Elijah Molden will be one of the safeties providing help over the top.
Needless to say, that’s a less than ideal group against a trio of fantastic pass-catchers that has accumulated 2,215 yards and 14 touchdowns between the three of them.
If this game gets out of hand, you can bet this battle on the back end will be a big reason why.
Titans OLBs vs. Seahawks OTs
If the Titans want any chance at playing the spoiler role against the Seahawks, they’re going to need a big game out of their pass rush.
Harold Landry, Denico Autry, and Arden Key must find a way to make Geno Smith uncomfortable. To do so, they’re going to have to beat one of the better young tackle tandems in the NFL.
Left tackle Charles Cross and right tackle Abraham Lucas were both selected by Seattle in the 2022 draft, and they’ve become a solid pair of bookends on the offensive line.
Lucas is still working his way back from an injury that robbed him of playing most of the season, but he should be able to go this weekend barring any setbacks.
On the left side, the Mississippi State product has been playing some of the best football of his young career as of late. Since Week 10, Cross has earned the seventh-highest overall grade at his position (79.4).
Charles Cross has earned a 79.4 PFF grade since Week 10
He ranks seventh among offensive tackles over that span
— PFF SEA Seahawks (@PFF_Seahawks) December 20, 2023
Even more impressive is the fact that he’s faced some of the best defensive fronts in football over that span, including the San Francisco 49ers (twice), Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles.
It won’t be an easy matchup to win, but the Titans’ defensive front needs to find a way to make an impact against the Seahawks’ young tackle tandem in order to have any chance at pulling off the upset.
