Tennessee Titans look to continue their dominance of the Bucs
By P. L. Colter
The Tennessee Titans take the field this Sunday afternoon, looking to halt a ten game losing streak. Standing in their way is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team that Tennessee has owned since moving to Nashville.
The Titans own a 4-1 advantage in the series, outscoring the Bucs 128-93. Tampa Bay’s lone victory in 2007 was the result of a game winning field goal with eleven seconds left in the game. The Bucs won 13-10.
And we’re not talking about the cantaloupe-orange uniform wearing Buccaneers. Two of those “new look” Bucs’ teams went on to make the playoffs (01,03).
So what must Tennessee do to move to 5-1 in this series?
First, protect the ball. Rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota enters the league with a reputation of protecting the ball in college. After a shaky two turnover first quarter in his preseason debut, Mariota settled down and played a clean preseason from that point on.
Second, win the turnover battle, as they’ve done throughout this series. Tampa Bay rookie qb Jameis Winston enters the league with a reputation of being a gun slinger…a risk taker. He threw 18 interceptions in 14 games last season at Florida State, so there will be opportunities for a Titans’ secondary that forced their share of turnovers this preseason.
Tennessee must also feature their talented tight end trio. The running game is more of a question mark now than it was at the beginning of camp, which means that a dink-and-dunk passing approach may be the order of the day.
The objective is to control the clock…by any means necessary.
Throwing to the tight ends on first and second down can work just as effectively, and the Titans have three capable pass catching tight ends in Delanie Walker, Anthony Fasano, and Craig Stevens.
Last, but certainly not least, get off to a good start. Tennessee averaged over 30 points a game in three of their four victories over the Bucs. The Titans also got off to fast starts in their two preseason victories this year, while they fell behind 17-0 early in both of their losses.
Next: Titans vs Bucs: Q & A With Pewter Plank