Jaxson Dart's season-ending injury shifted the Tennessee Titans' odds of beating the New York Giants in Week 3. Once sizeable underdogs, Robert Saleh's squad is now just a 2.5 point underdog on the road, according to ESPN.
But Dart's replacement, Jameis Winston, poses a whole new kind of problem. Winston never hesitates to uncork a deep pass. He's made a career out of being one of the most high-variance quarterbacks in the NFL.
With winston under center, the Titans' shaky secondary will be forced into the spotlight. Their ability to limit the Giants' explosive passes could be the deciding factor in what has become a crucial Week 3 game for both teams.
Jameis Winston will test Titans' secondary in Week 3
When the starter goes down in the middle of the game, most backup quarterbacks would try to manage the sticks, taking short gains to keep the game under control. Not Winston. When he came in for Dart during the Giants' Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, he immediately started to push the ball down the field.
Winston threw four passes of at least 20 yards against the Rams. He didn't complete any of them, but that didn't stop him from seeking out the deep shots. By comparison, Cam Ward has only thrown one pass more than 20 yards down the field this season and threw 22 such passes across his entire rookie year.
Many defenses would simply let their cornerbacks give a bit of extra cushion and force Winston to take the space left underneath. Saleh will likely try some version of this on Sunday, as he's already made his bend-don't-break defensive philosophy clear.
Still, the Titans' cornerbacks and safeties will certainly be tried against Winston. Even with their reliance on deep coverages, Tennessee has been vulnerable down the field. They have already allowed five completions of 20 or more yards this season.
Alontae Taylor, Marcus Harris, and Cor'Dale Flott will have to keep a lid on Malik Nabers, Malachi Fields, and Darnell Mooney. Harris and Taylor have struggled this year, allowing 13 receptions on 15 passes thrown in their areas. Even Flott is returning from a quad injury that kept him sidelined in Week 2, putting his Week 3 form in question.
If the Titans' cornerbacks let a receiver slip past them, even once, Winston won't hesitate to take advantage. They'll have to play four quarters of sound coverage to keep the game under control.
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