Bold prediction: Titans offense struggles to run vs. Lions

The Tennesee Titans are limping to town led by a backup quarterback. Can the Lions take advantage to shut down the run game?

The Tennessee Titans are about as close to a lost cause as you can be this early in the season. They’re 1-5, last in the AFC South, and one of the weakest teams in the league. Their lone win came against a Miami Dolphins team that was still in offensive disarray following Tua Tagovailoa’s latest concussion. Now, they come to town against a red-hot Detroit Lions team in hopes of an upset.

Bold prediction of the week: Lions defense holds Titans run game to <75 rushing yards

The Titans offense is very hit-or-miss, led by their cannon-armed quarterback in Will Levis. Unfortunately for the Titans, Levis is expected to be out on Sunday with a shoulder injury, meaning it’s Mason Rudolph time.

On offense, you would think that means the Titans will lean on their run game. That’s going to be a tough task for a few reasons. For starters, they’re playing the Lions, whose specialty is getting out to an early lead and not looking back. That’s not conducive to running the football.

To make matters worse, the Titans have a habit of abandoning the run as soon as things get out of hand—their only two games where they’ve rushed for under 100 yards were also the only two games they’ve lost by more than one possession. Last week, things got out of hands for Tennessee against the Bills, and they finished the day with just 39 rushing yards, their lowest of the season. Across the entire season, the Titans rank 26th in the league with a total of 660 rushing yards through seven weeks (although that does include a bye week).

This week, the Titans are adding injury to insult, with running back Tyjae Spears set to miss his second week in a row with a hamstring injury. Spears is the Titans’ backup running back, but he typically sees roughly a third of the snaps on offense. That’s no trivial amount.

On the Lions’ side, it may make sense to force the Titans to pass the ball more. Mason Rudolph is objectively not a good quarterback, and forcing him into obvious passing situations will only make matters worse. The Lions are still searching for answers in their pass rushing unit amidst Aidan Hutchinson’s absence. In the meantime, they can double down on stopping the run and make the Titans offense go through Rudolph’s hands.

I don’t think this game is going to be pretty for the Titans no matter who the offense runs through. If the Lions stick to their usual gameplan and take an early lead, they can leverage their strength in run defense to make the Titans offense one-dimensional. Should things go right, pencil the Titans in for their second-lowest rushing total of the year and a tough day on offense in Detroit.