Tennessee Titans Go Back To Work After Bye
By Les Bailey
The Tennessee Titans got their bye week out of the way, and a daunting 13-game schedule starts this Sunday when Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills come to town for week five. Fortunately for the Titans, they will be home for the entirety of October before they go to Houston on November 1st to take on the division foe Texans.
Head coach Ken Whisenhunt found out in the first three weeks that he has a young team with a lot of promise, but he also he found out in week three that he has a team that needs to learn to close out a game and needs to learn how to win.
More at Titan Sized: Titans: Five Keys after the Bye
The Titans have a nice cornerstone on offense with a very good Marcus Mariota at quarterback, who already looks like a seasoned veteran, but need to develop some weapons for the 2014 Heisman trophy winner.
They also need to find a way to protect their franchise quarterback from getting sacked. Mariota has been on the ground 12 times in three games, and is on track to take 64 sacks on the season if something isn’t done to protect him a little better.
The big problem that needs fixing this week is the secondary, and a returning Jason McCourty will help. JMac has been on the bench with groin problems for the start of this new season and watched as his teammates gave up 110 yards worth of passes that killed a comeback in Cleveland and two 3rd and twenty plays at home that allowed an Indianapolis Colts comeback last Sunday.
Slow starts are another problem that needs some attention as well. Dropped passes and interceptions caused the Titans a 14 point deficit in week three. Mariota and company were able to dig themselves out of the hole, but that 14 points was a killer and was the difference in the Browns loss.
Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills will be limping into town after a 24-10 home loss to the New York Giants yesterday where 17 penalties killed any chance for a late rally. The Bills were on a high after spanking the Miami Dolphins in week three, and look like a team that could be had on Sunday in Music City.
The Titans have a real chance to pick up a couple of wins on the Bills and Dolphins in the next two weeks before the Falcons come to town in week seven.
The Dolphins will be coming off a week four loss in London to the New York Jets and a bye week when they come to Music City, but are beatable.
The Colts didn’t have Andrew Luck yesterday, and outlasted a salty Jacksonville Jaguar team that has game, but fizzled in the second half. Two missed field goal attempts at the end of regulation cost the Jags a shot at leading the AFC South into week five.
If the Titans can get the secondary together and figure out how to close a game out, they can win this division in 2015.
It all starts when they go back to work today!
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