Looking to bounce back from 19-17 home loss against the Indianapolis Colts, the Tennessee Titans (1-1) will look to record their second road win of the season as they take on the Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2) at TIAA Bank Field.
But in order to do that, they’ll need to clean up some glaring mistakes from last week, and keep the Jaguars defense at bay.
Here’s a look at three keys on offense for the Titans to come out with the victory on Thursday.
1. Consistency.
Staying consistent has been one of the Titans’ biggest issues over recent seasons — and it’s particularly a problem with quarterback Marcus Mariota.
Mariota had a solid showing in Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns, completing 14-of-24 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns.
But he hardly looked like the confident and aggressive player the Titans drafted in 2015 on Sunday, missing some wide-open throws and taking sacks he didn’t need to while throwing for just 154 yards.
2019 is an important year for Mariota, who is on the final year of his rookie deal, and he’s going to have to take advantage of Thursday to turn things around.
2. Get Derrick Henry going.
The Titans didn’t incorporate running back Derrick Henry enough in a winnable game last week. Henry spent a lot of time on the sidelines, with he and Dion Lewis both seeing 30 snaps on Sunday.
He finished the game with 15 carries for 81 yards with one of Tennessee’s only two touchdowns.
The Titans will want to feed Henry more in this matchup than they did against the Colts. After all, Henry did record a historic 99-yard touchdown run in the last meeting between the two teams.
3. Convert on third-down plays.
The Titans have converted less on third down than any other team in the NFL, just 3-for-20 in those situations. Part of the issue is that the Titans average 11 yards to go on third down, putting themselves in a situation that’s just not manageable.
This is a major issue the Titans need to fix on offense moving forward in the season.
