Titans Winners and Losers
In week eight of the odd 2020 NFL season, the Tennessee Titans lost their second straight game to The Cincinnati Bengals.
In a 31-20 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Tennessee Titans played the worst they have played all season.
The Titans were the road favorites going into this game but would end up losing to a team with one win on the season.
The Titans are now 5-2, and there is plenty of blame to go around for the recent struggles. The Titans defense will surely get the bulk of the blame from analysts and fans, but there were some offensive struggles as well.
However, despite the loss, there were still some good things to happen in this game. Every Titans fan should keep their head up, look at the positives from this game.
Titans Winners
Running Back Group
We all know who Derrick Henry is.
King Henry played a great game and was one of the only bright spots for this offense. Derrick Henry finished the game with a subtle 112 rushing yards and a touchdown. However, the backups are who caught my eye in this game.
Jeremy McNichols and D’onta Foreman played great as well in this game. When their numbers were called, they delivered and made some big plays.
McNichols only got four carried on the game, but made every one of them count. The backup running back has shown all season, the things he can do with little game time. McNichols finished with 49 yards and averaged 12 yards a carry. His big 17-yard run helped the Titans late in the game get into scoring position.
Foreman had one more carry than McNichols but also proved his value with his limited playing time. Foreman finished with 37 yards and also had a big 15 yard run during the first half.
Much of the offense was stagnant during the game, but I think it’s safe to say these three did a great job all game.
Corey Davis, WR
Tennessee fans have been waiting for this Corey Davis game all season, especially since Davis spoiled them in week one with a big game as well. Unfortunately, it had to come during a loss.
Davis exploded for 128 yards on eight receptions. Corey Davis also had a top play, as he dragged his toe in bounds to secure the touchdown from Tannehill.
With Davis, it’s more than just the stats on this game. Corey’s route running was phenomenal, but his ability to be physical was even better. In the past, we have seen Corey Davis shy away from matchups and simply get outplayed due to physicality. Today was just not the case.
Something else I noticed was Davis’s leadership getting much better. In the past, Corey has had a tendency to be quiet. Well during their game against Cincinnati, Corey Davis was encouraging his team time after time to step up and make big plays.
These are just a few key things that could lead to unlocking Corey’s full potential.
Titans Losers
Ryan Tannehill, QB
Ryan Tannehill has had maybe his worst game as a Tennessee Titan so far. He started the game great with a drive down the field but would throw an interception in the end zone on a target to A.J. Brown where the receiver signaled for a pass.
After the interception, Ryan Tannehill would not look the same for the rest of the game. The defense was a huge part of the loss, but we know that the defense is terrible and it is hard to call one of the worst units in the NFL “losers” when you already know what they are.
Ryan finished the game 18-30 with 233 passing yards and 2 touchdowns. Most of the stats you see in the box score came from garbage time as the offense struggled to move the ball through the air in the first half due in part to the win.
Hopefully, Tannehill will not let this game affect him going into next week. We saw during his time with the Dolphins, that he could be rattled very easily. Although it should be noted that he had a much worse stat line against the Minnesota Vikings before coming back to put on an absolute show against the Buffalo Bills despite missing several weapons.
The Tennessee Titans will need their star quarterback to step it up if they want a chance to beat the Chicago Bears next week.
A.J. Brown, WR
A.J. Brown also didn’t play too well in this game. He was targeted seven times throughout the game and only had four receptions. For as good as he is, both of those numbers should be higher every week.
Fair or unfair, this game is going to stick out for the one catch he made instead of the four he did. Despite a great effort late in the game to add a touchdown, there was a pass that sailed right between his hands much earlier that was on track for another massive gain like he had against the Steelers a week ago.
Had he made that catch, both of the losers on this list could have been different and we could have been talking about another day where Brown put up 100+ yards and multiple touchdowns.
Maybe it was because of Corey Davis’s big game, or maybe it was the matchup, but regardless of how it happened, this is a game where the Titans could have used more from A.J. Brown.
If he is going to maximize his potential and become the best receiver in the league, then he is going to have to eliminate games like this vs bad opponents.