After a brutal loss in Week 1, the Tennessee Titans will look to correct mistakes on offense and special teams in their first home game against the New York Jets. The Jets will be looking to pick up a win on a short week following their Monday Night Football loss in San Francisco.
The Titans are seeking their first win under head coach Brian Callahan and the Jets are looking to end a playoff drought that dates back to 2010. Both teams are looking to rebound from their 0-1 record, but the pressure has increased on the offense and starting quarterbacks to show the improvements that were already evident in the offseason.
We’re diving deep into three matchups that will determine which of these teams can bounce back from Week 1 disappointments. These positional advantages for the Titans are areas they need to win to be successful in this game.
The Tennessee Titans cornerbacks were one of the best units on the field in Week 1, helping limit Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams to under 100 passing yards and 3.2 yards per attempt in his rookie debut.
L’Jarius Sneed, Chidobe Awuzie, Roger McCreary and Jarvis Brownlee Jr. form a strong and talented group that helped hold the Bears’ wide receivers to 12 of 26 passes, a 46% completion rate. This group now has to face a Jets position group that is considered significantly weaker than the Bears’.
Garrett Wilson is a very talented receiver for the Jets and will be the center of their passing attack. The former Offensive Rookie of the Year had 11 passes and a 38% target percentage in the Jets’ season opener, catching six passes for 60 yards.
I would expect the Jets to move Wilson around in their lineups to find advantageous matchups. Sneed was better than Wilson in the Chiefs’ win over the Jets last season, holding the versatile playmaker to three catches on six attempts for 24 yards when Sneed was the primary defender in coverage.
Behind their star wide receiver, the Jets have a mix of reliable veterans and unproven young players. Allen Lazard caught two touchdown passes in Week 1 while playing 100% of the offensive snaps. Lazard previously spent four full seasons in Green Bay with quarterback Aaron Rodgers before following him to New York in 2023. The Iowa State graduate is a threat on deep plays and averaged 13.3 yards per catch in his career.
Former Charger Mike Williams played just nine snaps in Week 1 while recovering from a torn ACL. While Williams shook off the rust, Xavier Gipson worked as the third wide receiver. The second-year pro worked primarily out of the slot, where he will see a lot of the ascendant McCreary. Williams and Gipson both finished in the bottom five in PFF ratings of the Jets offense in Week 1, according to USA Today.
The Titans should be able to win these matchups if their cornerbacks maintain the high level of play they showed in Week 1. Keeping Wilson in check will be key to slowing down the Jets’ passing attack and getting the defense off the field.
The Titans offense won’t have many advantages against a Jets defense that is particularly strong at the cornerback position and in the front seven. To win the game, the Titans will need to run effectively and be efficient in the middle of the field to evade cornerbacks Sauce Gardner, DJ Reed and Michael Carter II on the perimeter.
Perhaps the biggest weakness of the Jets defense is their safety room, led by starters Chuck Clark and Tony Adams. Whether it’s tight ends running up the seam, running backs gaining yards after the catch on checkdowns, or wide receivers getting vertical against zone defenses, the Titans need to attack this position group from the air.
Last week, Clark played his first regular season game in over a year. The veteran safety tore his ACL last offseason after coming to New York as a free agent from Baltimore. Known more as a run stopper than a pass defender, Clark graded worse in coverage than in run defense in his final two seasons as a starter by PFF.
Adams is entering his second season as a starter and his third season in the league. The Illinois University graduate is hoping for a breakout season and started off on the right foot as he led the Jets with 12 tackles on Monday night. Adams has plenty of talent but hasn’t been the most consistent in pass coverage throughout his career.
The Titans should try to exploit one of the Jets’ few weaknesses on that side of the ball.
The Titans’ defensive line was a strength on paper early in the season and looked dominant at times in Week 1. The team held the Bears to 3.8 yards per carry and consistently put pressure on Caleb Williams in the passing game.
According to PFF, rookie T’Vondre Sweat had the third-best pass rush rating of any defensive lineman in his Week 1 debut. Sebastian Joseph-Day picked up his first sack as a Titan and deflected a pass. Jeffery Simmons, Keondre Coburn and James Lynch teamed up to pressure Williams and close down running lanes quickly, leading the Titans to rank sixth in the NFL in expected yards per carry (4.0), according to Next Gen Stats.
Aaron Rodgers attempted just two passes of 15 yards, one of which was a free kick due to an offside penalty, and was the third-fastest quarterback in Week 1 in average throw time at 2.47 seconds, according to SB Nation. The Titans will need to quickly generate pressure from the inside to disrupt Rodgers, who looked less mobile after suffering an Achilles injury last season.
The Jets’ offensive line struggled in the running game in Week 1. Breece Hall averaged just 3.4 yards per carry and had 54 rushing yards, but PFF gave him -10 yards before contact. Four of the five starting offensive linemen ranked in the bottom half of their respective position groups in run blocking ratings for their performance.
The Titans’ defensive line is a key part of the group that currently ranks first in the NFL in yards allowed and will need to continue to win at the line of scrimmage this week. Pressuring the veteran quarterback and closing running gaps will be key to getting the offense better field position and winning this game.
