Brady Akins
When the Titans take on the Panthers on Sunday, they will be doing so without the help of starting center Ben Jones, who is out with a concussion.
Replacing Jones will be Jamil Douglas, who started at guard for the Titans’ first four games this season. Despite the experience, Douglas was a weak link in an already struggling Titans offensive line, and might have problems against a talented Panthers pass rush. Tennessee comes into their game against Carolina having already allowed 34 sacks on the season, tied for an NFL high. The strength of the Panthers defense all year has been their ability to create sacks, producing the second-most in the NFL with 30 through just seven games.
With Carolina’s pass rush and penchant for creating turnovers (10 interceptions in seven games, second in the NFL), Ryan Tannehill might stumble in ways he hadn’t in the past two weeks while facing weaker Chargers and Buccaneers defenses. If Tannehill does have a hard time, the offensive burden will fall to Derrick Henry, who will be up against a Panthers run defense that ranks 27th in rushing yards per game.
Regardless, I don’t see the Titans being able to produce enough offense to pull out a win against Carolina. Tannehill has made Tennessee’s offense look better, but he hasn’t yet gone against a defense like Carolina’s and may have a difficult time staying upright with Jamil Douglas playing against one of the best pass-rushing teams in the NFL.
The Titans’ defense will have to shut down Christian McCaffrey completely in order to win. While Tennessee has played well against opposing running backs, McCaffrey has been playing at an MVP level and keeping him contained all game might be too tall a task for the Titans defense. Carolina might only need two or three big plays from their offense to win this game, and I think they’ll get them.
Prediction: Panthers over Titans 23-17