Tennessee Titans are wasting crucial snaps on Dion Lewis

It’s clear that the Tennessee Titans are wasting important snaps on running back Dion Lewis after two games.

Two of the more egregious errors in the Tennessee Titans’ Week 2 loss to the Indianapolis Colts was the fact that running backs Derrick Henry and Dion Lewis had an even split of snaps, and that Lewis got important carries in the fourth quarter.

When looking at the snap counts from Sunday, Henry and Lewis had an even 50/50 share, with both backs seeing the field for 30 snaps apiece.

Now, it must be mentioned that the Titans only carried two backs into that contest, so there wasn’t much leeway for one back to get a ton more snaps than the other.

However, when looking at their respective performances, it’s clear Henry should have garnered at least a higher percentage, and all of the work down the stretch.

Henry carried the rock 15 times for 81 yards (5.4 yards per carry), while Lewis handled three carries for nine yards (3.0 yards per carry). As far as carry distribution goes, the Titans got it right there, although I’d still like to see Henry get more carries in general.

It’s still hard to argue that Henry should see more targets in the passing game after he had a drop in this one, but he still out-shined Lewis in that area as well. Henry caught two of his three targets for 12 yards, while Lewis caught his lone target for five yards.

The biggest problem I had with this running back situation in Week 2 was that Lewis got meaningful snaps and carries down the stretch.

After Henry finished the third quarter off with an 18-yard run that had the Titans driving with a lead, the Titans inexplicably sent Lewis out to start the fourth quarter and gave him a carry that went for two yards.

In total, Lewis saw two important carries in the fourth quarter and did almost nothing with either one. That has been the story of Lewis’ carries thus far in 2019, as he’s averaging just 2.7 yards per tote.

What to do with Dion Lewis?

If the Titans are going to keep Lewis as the next in line when Henry needs a breather, he can’t be getting meaningful carries when he’s doing nothing with them. Henry is the No. 1 back on this team by a mile, and his skill set is perfect for when the Titans have a late lead.

Lewis has been awful thus far in 2019, whether it’s when he’s running the ball or being targeted in the passing game, which is supposed to be his specialty. His drop in Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns with plenty of field in front of him certainly comes to mind as an example.

Considering the Titans can’t trade Lewis thanks to his contract and poor play, he’s probably sticking around. Still, it wouldn’t hurt for the Titans to seek out or try another in-house option behind Henry because the drop off from their starter to the No. 2 back is just too great right now.