The Tennessee Titans started the season off on a high note, recording a dominant 27-10 win over the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing, though.
Here’s a look at when went well, what went bad and what was just plain awry from Thursday’s game.
The Good
• Quarterback Play-Ryan Tannehill and Logan Woodside both had strong games. Tannehill looked comfortable behind the offensive line, and steadily went through his progressions.
Tannehill finished his night 12-of-16 passes for 130 yards, two touchdowns, and a two-point conversion.
Woodside fit the ball into some tight windows. He threw touchdowns to multiple receivers and looked composed in the pocket. He finished the night 15-of-20 passes for 138-yards and 2 touchdowns.
• Young receivers stepped up– Kalif Raymond led Titans receivers catching 6 passes for 80-yards. He seemed to catch on as Tannehill’s favorite target early on.
Derrius Jennings caught a 2-point conversation. He caught the ball short of the goal line, but powered his way in through two defenders.
Cody Hollister had a solid night catching 4 passes for 58 yards, and a 25-yard touchdown on a contested target. Tanner McEvoy caught his only target for a 17-yard touchdown, and Anthony Firkser rebounded from his down performance at the scrimmage game, making two receptions for 29-yards and a touchdown.
• Coming out on the right side of the turnover battle- Alex Barnes and Logan Woodside each had a fumble, but the Titans recovered each one. However, JoJo Tillery came away with an interception for the Titans and Isiah Mack recovered a fumble.
• Stingy defense– The Titans held the Eagles to only 10 points and less than 250 total yards.
The Bad
• Adoree’ Jackson gives up a long touchdown– Jackson gave up a 75-yard touchdown to Marken Michel on a play that could have been an interception. Jackson fully committed to breaking the pass up, but mistimed his dive. After Jackson failed to make the play, Michel was able to trot into the end zone with no one else even close to him.
• Run game struggles– Aside from McNichols’ 37-yard run, the Titans struggled to run the football. After the 37-yarder, McNichols finished the night with 44-yards. Alex Barnes had the fumble, and only managed 1.4 yards per carry. Dalyn Dawkins has the best night of Titans running backs averaging 3.5 yards per carry, on 10 carries.
• Taywan Taylor misses easy touchdown– On one particular play, Taywan Taylor was able to beat his man and get wide open. Tannehill hit him, on what should have been an easy touchdown. While Tannehill probably could have thrown a better ball, it did bounce off of Taylor’s chest.
• Kicking game has to be better– Alex Barnard was the Titans kicker and punter for this game. Barnard missed two extra-point attempts, although one was tipped.
The Ugly
• Penalties in bulk– As to be expected in the first week of the preseason, we saw a lot of penalties. The Titans committed 12 penalties, costing them 117 yards, while the Eagles committed 11 penalties costing themselves 89 yards.
• 4th and No– As we’ve seen in the past, Mike Vrabel isn’t afraid to be aggressive. However, tonight wasn’t the night for it, the Titans went 0-4 on fourth down attempts.
• Sloppy tackling– While the Titans defense looked well coached on assignments, created consistent quarterback pressure, and forced a few turnovers, their tackling was a little sloppy. On multiple plays, the defensive player chose to lay a big hit on the ball carrier opposed to wrapping him up. This resulted in the Eagles gaining a few more first downs than they would have.
The Titans will play the New England Patriots in week two of the preseason on Saturday August 17th. Until then, the Titans plan to host joint practices with the Patriots leading up to the game.
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