NFL
The Tennessee Titans And Philadelphia Eagles Both Look To Improve To 3-1 On Sunday
The Philadelphia Eagles will travel down to Tennessee to play the Titans, both with injured rosters. Both teams have been experiencing offensive woes and looking towards their defense to secure their wins.
A low scoring contest is highly probable. With the final game of the first quarter of the season on the line, it will be important for both franchises to improve to 3-1.
Injury Report
The Eagles will again be without wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, Mack Hollins, and Mike Wallace, as the latter two remain on the IR list; Jeffery was just cleared for contact earlier this week. The Eagles will be without running back Darren Sproles. They could be without RB Jay Ajayi as well however he did fully participate in practice on Thursday. RB Corey Clement has had limited participation all week.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Eagles will likely be missing Rodney McLeod for the rest of the season. McLeod underwent surgery on his knee after suffering an injury in last week’s game. Tim Jernigan and Chris Maragos have been ruled out for this Sunday.
The Titans could be without three of their receivers this week, Rishard Matthews (personal reasons, questionable), Michael Campanaro (IR), and Delanie Walker (IR). With injuries on their offensive line as well, the Titans are already struggling passing game will be in an even sparser state.
Tennessee’s 3-4 defense has four defenders on the IR list, two of which are their strong safeties. Another two of their cornerbacks will likely be out as well.
Keys To The Game
Philadelphia Eagles
The Tennessee Titans defense has been consistently strong from last season to the current one. However, plagued with injuries, their rush defense has slipped to 23rd in the league. The Eagles’ run game is currently averaging 118.7 yards a game (11th in the league).
With Sproles, Ajayi, and Clement absent or mostly absent for Sunday’s contest, RBs Wendell Smallwood and Josh Adams will be seeing a lot of touches. Philadelphia will be able to exploit the Titans’ weak rush defense if they can find a rhythm with their running game between their active backs.
The Eagles’ ground game has been streaky this season and at times relied on their passing game to keep drives alive. Their passing game, however, has been even more inefficient than their run game. With the return of Carson Wentz, the Eagles’ aerial attack will quickly improve despite their lack of receivers due to injury.
If the Eagles can find a way to connect in the air to their receivers it will further open up their ground game. The two TE setup Philadelphia used last week may not be as prevalent on Sunday if the Eagles plan to run the ball with great frequency.
Tennessee Titans
The Titans’ passing game is one of the top ten in the league. They have allowed less than 220 passing yards per game. This kind of shutdown secondary will be highly favored against a weak Eagles’ passing game even with Wentz back. The Titans’ run defense, on the other hand, will need to be diligent not to allow any of the Philadelphia RBs to get on a consistent streak.
While Tennessee’s passing game has struggled due to injured receivers, Titans QB Marcus Mariota has an opportunity this week to get things back on track. The Eagles’ pass defense relies on the front seven’s pass rush. In the event that the pass rush is unsuccessful, the Eagles’ secondary struggles, especially with the absence of McLeod.
If Mariota can make the correct zone reads or recognize man coverage on his receivers, it will result in a huge gain; expect a connection between Mariota and WR Corey Davis for that big play. The Titans will need a big moment in this game to create a point differential in this likely low scoring game.
Fantasy Implications
Eagles’ running backs Smallwood and Adams performed better than expected last week against the Colts and it may be another breakout week for one of these three. Due to the competition in the backfield, it is unknown how many carries each will get which could limit their fantasy projections.
Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia’s rookie TE, is an interesting waiver pick up due to the lack of receivers in Philadelphia. This week will be a good litmus test for WR Jordan Matthews regarding his potential fantasy production.
For the Titans, Corey Davis will be taking most of the receptions and could have a big game. With Matthews off the field drama about not wanting to play anymore due to his lack of targets and the Eagles’ lacking secondary, plan for Davis to have a big game. Derrick Henry will probably underperform on Sunday given the veracity of the Eagles’ run defense.
Photo Credit
Featured Image courtesy of Casey Fleser
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