Last week’s 20-13 win over the New England Patriots opened the playoffs for the Titans in a big way, but continuing their postseason run comes down to a win over the Baltimore Ravens.
It won’t be an easy task up against one of the league’s best quarterbacks and a team that’s fresh off a bye, but the Titans have the talent on both sides of the ball to accomplish the task.
1. What is Lamar Jackson’s biggest weakness?
Matthew Stevens: This season, I’m not too sure Jackson actually has a real weakness. He’s done a great job protecting the football and he’s developed so much as a passer that there’s no real bad spot to his game right now.
But looking back to last year, Jackson had a tendency to get over-excited and get out of rhythm. Though he hasn’t done it this year, I wonder if regular pressure could see his poor footwork and mechanics come back out when throwing the ball.
2. Which Ravens player is flying under the radar who could have a big game this week?
MS: Offensively, wide receiver Willie Snead is always a threat even though he hasn’t been as big of a part of the offense as last year. If a defense focuses in too much on stopping tight end Mark Andrews and wide receiver Marquise Brown, it usually means Snead is going to be open and he could stack a couple of really big catches together.
Defensively, safety Chuck Clark has been doing such a great job of being in the right place at the right time and making a serious impact, even though he gets lower billing than the rest of the secondary. He’s a really smart player who does a lot of homework on his opponents and it feels like he’s due for a big game where he gets a key interception or fumble recovery.
3. How well does this defense match up against a quarterback like Ryan Tannehill, and how can they limit him?
MS: Tannehill might not be a world beater but the guy has been great against the blitz while making high-percentage throws to keep drives moving. I think the top priority is taking away Tannehill’s safety blankets, which means stopping Derrick Henry on the ground and sticking on A.J. Brown like glue.
Once Tannehill doesn’t have his pressure relief players any longer, defensive coordinator Don Martindale’s confusing and aggressive blitzing should get in his face and force mistakes. The key is ultimately how well can Baltimore can stop the run and who gets the coverage assignment on Brown, so it could all be easier said than done.
4. Tannehill threw for just 72 yards against the Patriots and the Titans still won. How well can the Ravens stop a ground attack with Derrick Henry at the center?
MS: The Ravens have used a lot of dime coverage this season to take advantage of their great secondary while letting the defensive line bottle up running backs as much as possible with the understanding they shouldn’t be able to create enough big plays to stay in the game.
The other big thing has been Baltimore’s offense getting out to an early lead and forcing opponents to stop running the ball in order to play catch up, which explains how the Ravens rank 21st in average rushing yards allowed while giving up the fewest attempts and rushing yards per game.
In this one, I don’t think that strategy is going to work as well and Baltimore is going to have to take Henry out first and foremost while daring Tannehill to beat them. So we could see a switch from the dime packages usually used to either a base or big nickel package to get bigger bodies on the field to square up on Henry better.
Most important though is making sure defenders aren’t trying to take down Henry by themselves and ensuring every tackle has textbook form because he can bounce off big hits and run through arm tackles like few backs in this league.
5. Final score and predictions.
MS: The Titans have done a great job this season and they’re heading in the right direction. If they didn’t have Baltimore in their way, I wouldn’t be shocked if Tennessee actually made a serious Super Bowl run much like the Ravens did back in 2012.
However, Baltimore is just a better team in all three phases of the game and it’ll show up pretty quickly here. I expect the Ravens to get out to a quick lead while making Henry pay for every yard he gains to make the Titans have to throw the ball more.
And as we’ve seen all season long for Baltimore, their defense tends to create some big plays in this situation while the offense eats up clock and finishes drives with more touchdowns. I think the Ravens win, 49-13.
