Tennessee Titans top areas of concern ahead of Week 2 versus Seahawks

Can the rest of the Tennessee Titans offense get in sync?

In Week 1 versus the Cardinals, Todd Downing flat-out put his offense in positions where it was difficult if not impossible for them to thrive.

In the first quarter, he ignored Julio Jones and AJ Brown, and each of Tennessee’s first three drives started with a running play that didn’t fool Vance Joseph. The Titans employed play-action passing early and often, the Cardinals expected it, and Chandler Jones‘ first strip-sack of Ryan Tannehill is the evidence of that.

However, when Henry did break some big runs in the third quarter, Downing realized that the run game was working and decided to keep it going. The only problem is when you do absolutely nothing but run the ball, defenses will quickly adjust, and that is exactly what happened.

Variation of the play calling will be required, and that means giving more opportunities to Tannehill to air the ball out. Isn’t that why this team acquired Jones? Sure, the offensive line remains an issue, so it would be unwise to drop Tannehill in the pocket more often and put him at greater risk of injury.

That means the offense should incorporate more short passing schemes. Two of the best receivers in the game can surely adjust to that, and it would extend drives, something that the Titans have always emphasized.

It probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to utilize the shotgun or pistol formations on first and second down. After all, Tannehill is pretty good at running the read-option. The Titans can continue to feature the run and play-action passing game, but becoming more well-rounded only keeps opposing defenses guessing.  Downing needs to realize that.