Another week, another chance for the Philadelphia Eagles to pull ahead in the race for the number one seed in the NFC. This Sunday, the Birds are set to take on the Tennessee Titans, a 7-4 squad riding the legs of Derrick Henry in pursuit of an AFC South championship. Could the Titans be one of the toughest challenges for this Eagles team to date? How can Gannon limit a freak like Henry? Should Sirriani keep the ball on the ground, or air it out? To find out, we’ll analyze the strengths and weaknesses of both of these squads, and determine how the Eagles can keep this train rolling.
Titan’s Strengths
Derrick Henry
Derrick Henry has a case as the single most valuable non-quarterback player in this league. When he gets going, this dude is pretty much unstoppable; and he’s shown it this year, rushing for 1000+ yards, good for second in the league. Arguably the only way to consistently stop Henry is catch him in the backfield, which must be done by selling out in the box. It’s almost a necessity though, as when Henry is rolling, the Titans offense becomes extremely lethal.
Run defense
The Titans are a team built in the trenches, and that shows when one takes a look at this run defense. The Titans’ ability to stop the run plays a major part in their defensive success – they rank number one in run defense DVOA, number three in rush yards allowed per game, and number two in opponent yards per rush. With Jeffrey Simmons anchoring the front four and Mike Vrabel at head coach, it makes sense this is the case, but it is nonetheless extremely impressive. The reality is that teams CANNOT run the ball on Tennessee, and there’s no reason to expect that to change against the Birds.
Limiting offensive mistakes
“Limiting mistakes” might seem like a strange strength for a team that lost last week on a roughing the kicker penalty, but the reality is that Ryan Tannehill and company have been pretty good at limiting turnovers and supporting the run game with complementary football this season. It’s going to be hard to play soft and hope for mistakes against a quarterback like Tannehill, who is perfectly comfortable sitting back and taking checkdowns when needed.
Eagles’ Strengths
Offense
The offense again showed just how insanely lethal it can be, dropping 40 on Joe Barry’s defense in a dominant showing. While last week was a historic effort on the ground, let’s not forget how elite this unit can be through the air. AJ Brown has had some struggles with fumbles, but with him now fully healthy, his impact along with Devonta Smith and the re-emergence of Quez Watkins is an absolute nightmare for opposing secondaries. Hurts has been nothing short of amazing as a quarterback this season, and as long as he’s clicking, this offense can beat you however they please.
Secondary
While the defense let up 33 points last week, it’s hard to put blame on the coverage unit. Even with safety CJ Gardner Johnson on IR, the corner duo of Slay and Bradberry should scare any opposing passing attack and limit explosive plays.
Titans’ Weaknesses
Passing attack
While the Titans have an efficient and explosive running game, the same cannot be said for the passing attack. They rank near the bottom of the league in most passing metrics, including total yards, yards per attempt, and passing DVOA. It makes sense, as Tannehill, while an okay quarterback, can’t carry a team with Robert Woods as the only valid veteran receiving option.It shouldn’t be hard to limit this passing game, so selling out on the run is a must.
Pass defense
Much like the passing attack, the pass defense is a stark contrast to the run defense in pretty much every way. Teams have picked apart these corners all year, and the Titans have surrendered the second most passing yards per game as a result. As long as you avoid Kevin Byard, it’s hard to go wrong when passing against this defense – and if you have a one-on-one matchup against a Titans corner, you should take it.
Eagles’ Weaknesses
Defensive inconsistencies
While this Eagles defense has had great outings, it’s hard to know just what you’re going to get on a week-to-week basis with this group. Whether it’s a porous run defense or allowing space to receivers over the middle, the infuriating tendencies of this defense become apparent early in games and force the offense to perform at an elite level to win. The re-addition of Jordan Davis may help these inconsistencies, but without CJ in the secondary, you never really know,
Keys to Victory
PASS THE BALL
The Titans defense good against run. Titans defense bad against pass. Pass ball. Feed AJ.
SELL OUT TO DEFEND THE RUN
Titans offense good at run. Titans offense bad at pass. Defend run hard.
Score Prediction
The Titans are a good team, and their 7-4 record shows it. That being said, it’s hard to underestimate the power of an AJ Brown revenge game. I think that with Davis back, we stand a chance against Henry, and our coaching staff will focus on airing it out on Sunday, leading to a victory.
Score: 33 – 24 Eagles
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Noah Berger is a featured writer at The Birds Blitz. For more from Noah, check out his archive and read through our Eagles articles for the latest news about the Birds.
