Week 8 scouting report: Tennessee Titans are a mess, could play spoiler

Taking a look at the Lions Week 8 opponent: The Tennessee Titans are a complete mess, can Detroit avoid the upset this week?

Coming off their biggest win of the season yet over the Minnesota Vikings, the Detroit Lions return home this week to take on the Tennessee Titans. The Lions have been on a tear since their Week 2 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, winning four games in a row. They are playing like the top team in not just the NFC but the NFL overall.

To continue their win streak, they must take down the struggling Titans, who enter on a two-game losing streak with questions all around their offense. The defense for Tennessee has been their bright spot, but their offense can’t seem to figure things out. Even though the Titans are struggling, this is the NFL, and the famous term “any given Sunday“ is valid as upsets happen every year in the league, and Detroit must make sure they aren’t a victim to one this Sunday.

Let’s take a look deeper into the Titans in our Week 8 scouting report for the 2024 season.

Tennessee Titans

2024 season thus far (1-5)

Week 1: Lost to Chicago Bears, 24-17
Week 2: Lost to New York Jets, 24-17
Week 3: Lost to Green Bay Packers, 30-14
Week 4: Defeated Miami Dolphins, 31-12
Week 5: BYE
Week 6: Lost to Indianapolis Colts, 20-17
Week 7: Lost to Buffalo Bills, 34-18

Stats:

• 26th in points scored, 21st in points allowed
• 27th in DVOA
• 27th in offensive DVOA (29th in pass DVOA, 18th in run DVOA)
• 11th in defensive DVOA (15th pass DVOA, 6th in run DVOA)
• 32nd in special teams DVOA

The Titans are off to their worst start to a season since 2015, where they started 1-6 before finishing 3-13, in their final year under head coach Ken Whisenhunt. First-year coach Brian Callahan is off to a rough start for his head coaching job, as the team has struggled to get things figured out. Coming from the Cincinnati Bengals offense with quarterback Joe Burrow, Callahan seems unable to translate his success over to Tennessee. Out of all the things the team is struggling with the most, the offense has had the biggest headaches.

Quarterback Will Levis started the season at quarterback after an impressive finish to the 2023 season, but his play has seemed to regress more than improve. Levis has thrown for only 699 yards with five touchdowns, seven interceptions, 106 rushing yards, and three fumbles this season in the five games he started. Against the Dolphins, Levis injured his shoulder and couldn’t finish the game. Coming off the bye week, Levis played against the Colts, but was ruled out against the Bills in Week 7.

For the Bills game, and the rest of the Dolphins game, backup quarterback Mason Rudolph took over for him. Rudolph’s performances weren’t much better than Levis’, going 34-for-57 for 300 yards with one touchdown and interception, as well as three fumbles, losing one.

While the quarterback position has been a rough part of this offense, the running game for Tennessee is their strength. Running back Tony Pollard came from the Dallas Cowboys and leads the Titans with 400 rushing yards (4.3 YPC) and three touchdowns. Running back Tyjae Spears, their third-round pick in 2023, hasn’t been involved in the ground game as much, getting only 33 carries compared to Pollard’s 94, and has 114 rushing yards and a touchdown.

The receivers for Tennessee aren’t helping out the quarterback, either. Wide receiver Calvin Ridley leads the room with 183 yards on 12 catches and a touchdown. DeAndre Hopkins is right behind him in yards with 173 on 15 catches and a touchdown, but Tyler Boyd has the most catches of the three with 18 for 170 yards. Despite having three solid receivers, the production isn’t there in the passing game, and according to PFF, none of those three players are above a 68 receiving grade.

Now, the team has shown some life is on the defense, where they have been able to help keep the offense in games. Three players have stood out to me on this defense as their top options. First, it’s outside linebacker Harold Landry. Landry has 29 tackles but leads the team in tackles for loss (seven) and sacks (four). He can also help in the passing game, as he has three pass deflections. He is a player that Erik Schlitt mentioned could be a potential trade option that the Lions should look into.

The other two players that stood out are linebacker Kenneth Murray Jr., who leads the team in tackles with 46 and is tied for second in tackles for loss (four) and sacks with two). When it comes to making plays on the defense, though, safety Amani Hooker has been that guy for the Titans. He has 28 tackles, four pass deflections, and four tackles for loss. But his most significant plays are the turnovers. He is the only player on the Titans to record an interception andhe has forced two fumbles. Things aren’t good when you only have one guy creating all of the turnovers for the team almost halfway through the season.

Injury notes

Key players ruled out: CB Chidobe Awuzie (IR/groin), WR Treylon Burks (IR/knee)

Key players to monitor: QB Will Levis (shoulder), RB Tyjae Spears (hamstring), S L’Jarius Sneed (quad), LB Kenneth Murray Jr. (shoulder), OT Jaelyn Duncan (hamstring)

The Titans will be without starting cornerback Chidobe Awuzie, who is in the final week of the four games he must sit out on IR. The passing game did lose a young receiver in Burks, who was put on IR the day before the Bills game, so that is one less threat the Lions will have to worry about.

When it comes to the offense, the biggest question this week will be the health of Levis and if he can play against the Lions. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Levis’ injury is considered a four-to-five-week injury, and while Levis has played through injuries before, this one is considered week-to-week. If Levis isn’t ready, expect Rudolph to start again for the Titans.

UPDATE: Jeremy Fowler says Levis is a “long shot” to play this week.

Spears didn’t practice last week and missed the Buffalo game, so his time on the sideline could mean more carries for Pollard. Offensive tackle Jaelyn Duncan left the game against Buffalo with a hamstring injury and didn’t return, which means another backup offensive tackle could play Detroit, although Nicholas Petit-Frere has started four games at RT before getting benched recently.

The defense has some concerns with some of its top players, as Murray left the Bills game with a shoulder injury and didn’t return. Losing him this week would not be good for the Titans defense. Safety L’Jarius Sneed didn’t practice last week and missed the Bills game, so we’ll see he is able to practice this week. He could give a boost to the secondary going up against this strong Lions offense.

Biggest strength: Defense

When it comes to the Titans, their defense is hands down their best unit. According to pro-football-reference, the Titans have allowed an average of 3.9 yards per carry, fourth best in the NFL. Only three times this season has a running back had over 50 rushing yards against this defense, with the best performance coming from Jets running back Breece Hall, with 62 yards.

Running on this Titans defense isn’t going to be easy for Detroit. According to PFF, the Titans’ best team grade on defense is their run defense, with a grade of 62.9. While that grade isn’t impressive, not allowing a 100-yard rusher is, and when the best running back can barely get over 60 yards, it shows that it’s not that easy, or it would have already happened by now.

Passing the ball on this defense is also difficult for opposing teams. Tennessee has the fourth-lowest completion percentage allowed in the league at 59.6 percent. They also have the third-lowest yards per attempt, with 6.3. If anything can win them the football game, it’s the defense.

Biggest weakness: Passing attack

In today’s NFL, your passing game is the unit you can’t afford to be the worst. Whether it’s a lack of help at the wide receiver position or a quarterback who can’t seem to figure things out, having this issue can shoot your way up the draft order. The Titans have a combination of issues, as it’s not just poor quarterback play on this team but wide receiver play as well. The trio of Ridley, Hopkins, and Boyd are all notable, talented players, but their lack of production is alarming.

UPDATE: The Titans may be without Hopkins, as it appears he is being traded to the Chiefs.

You can certainly put some of the blame on the quarterback play when it comes to their low production. The Titans have the fewest passing yards in the NFL with 999. The running game has been working, but even other run-heavy teams have more passing yards than this.

I’m unsure if Levis can continue to be the guy for Tennessee, as he has regressed from his decent rookie season. He seems to panic quickly when under pressure, and has made some very questionable in-game decisions. If the head coach is even confused by the play of the starting quarterback, that is not a good sign for the team’s future and possibly the franchise.

Key matchup: Lions edge rushers vs. Titans offensive tackles

In the win over the Vikings, only one defensive lineman got a sack, with the other three coming from linebackers. The pass rush didn’t seem to exist at times, which gave Minnesota time to let their passing game go to work. Facing up against this Titans offensive line will be another test to see if someone can step up without defensive end Aidan Hutchinson.

According to PFF, the Titans are a bottom-tier blocking team, with a pass-blocking grade of 57.1 (ranked 27th) and a run-blocking grade of 55.5 (ranked 26th). The Titans could be without a starting offensive tackle, something the Lions have faced a lot this season so far, which could help generate more pass-rush opportunities. The Lions haven’t made any trades, and the one signing they made, Isaiah Thomas, was inactive against the Vikings last week.

Tennessee’s quarterback play hasn’t been good, which gives the Lions edge rushers an advantage. With possibly a backup tackle starting, their odds get even better. If the Lions can’t generate pressure and the Titans quarterback has time to find an open receiver, Tennessee could turn those chances into points. If the Lions can get generate pressure and force them to panic and make rash decisions, those could turn into turnovers and potential short drives for the offense to score.

Vegas line for Sunday: Lions favored by 10.5