Tennessee Titans: 3 takeaways from Week 3 loss to Jaguars
Arthur Smith is struggling
It’s honestly hard to tell whether new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is holding Mariota back, or vice versa. Regardless, other than a few big plays in Cleveland, Smith seems to be in over his head more often than not in 2019.
This was extremely evident when the titans got into a second-and-20 in the first half and Smith decided an inside run to 5-foot-8 Dion Lewis would be the best option. As much as Titans fans wish that call was an anomaly, in the second half Smith once again decided on a crucial second- and-19 that a run with Derrick Henry would do the trick.
To make matters even worse, with the Titans down 17, Smith called four first down runs for a total of two yards.
This offseason new Titans OC Arthur Smith promised to keep the OFF similar to 2018 to provide continuity for Mariota.
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) September 20, 2019
Why?
2018 featured an OFF which ran more often & less successfully than either yr of the exotic smashmouth + the 25th ranked pass attack.
Predictable failure.
Subsequently, this caused a team that struggles on third downs into a countless amount of third-and-long situations. At one point they converted a whopping 15 percent of their third down attempts throughout the night. They raised that total to 47 per (8-for-17) by the end of the game, which is still abysmal considering the talent on this offense.
If Smith is going to win back this fan base, he is going to have to turn things around in a hurry.