Falcons vs Titans: Gameday
By Les Bailey
When the Tennessee Titans take the field for a week seven game with the Atlanta Falcons today, fans will get a chance to see what life would have been like if they had decided to draft a defensive lineman and not draft Marcus Mariota with the second pick this year.
For at least three months prior to the 2015 draft, Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt said he was all in on his second-year quarterback, Zach Mettenberger and would be drafting a defensive lineman. Fans were all excited that the lineman would probably be Leonard Williams out of USC.
Zach Mettenberger will get a chance to make his first start of the year against a 5-1 Atlanta Falcon team that is coming off a Thursday night loss to the division rival New Orleans Saints.
The Falcons are close to the bottom of the NFL in sacking the quarterback, so it will be a good time to turn a gunslinger like Mett loose, who is not as mobile but loves to throw the ball downfield. Unlike Mariota, he should have time for the longer plays to develop.
I agree with my collegue here at Titan Sized, Will Lomas that it would also be a great time to start rookie wideout Dorial Green-Beckham and let’s see what he can do with an arm like Mett has under center.
More at Titan Sized: Trades the Titans should be pondering
If the Titans are planning to trade their second year quarterback either at the trading deadline next month or next spring, this will be a nice showcase where the rest of the league can see what he has.
There are a lot of bad teams out there who could improve by adding Zach Mettenberger to their roster.
The Atlanta Falcons are in a bit of a lull after dominating their first five games but a team with a solid franchise quarterback like Matt Ryan to go with a dominating receiver like Julio Jones will test the Titans defense today.
Add in a solid running game with Devonta Freeman, who has 508 yards on the season already to go with nine touchdowns and it could be a long day for Dick LeBeau‘s defense which is banged up and will miss the services of Perrish Cox today.
The Titans played the run pretty well this year until they gave up 118 yards to Lamar Miller last week and a 180 total yards on the ground to the Miami Dolphins.
With the talent the Falcons have at wide receiver, if they get the running game going as well, it could turn this game into a shootout that the Titans probably can’t win.
The fan moral around the Tennessee Titans is going down faster than the Titanic, and if they leave this four-game, five week home stand without a win, it could have everyone calling for Ken Whishenhunts head and looking forward to the 2016 draft.
The Titans will need their A-Game today if they want to get a second win this year. When they go on the road next week, it doesn’t get any better.
They will be in Houston next week to face an improving Texans team and then on to New Orleans for a date with the Saints before coming home to take on the unbeaten Carolina Panthers.
For a season that started with so much promise, this season could turn real ugly, real fast.
Next: How Titans injuries change game against Falcons