The Titans travel to face the Jets this week, and maybe it will be the layup for Tennessee that everyone is expecting. The Jets have been pretty terrible while losing all three games, while the Titans are 2-1 in what looks like an awful AFC South.
But let's not assume Tennessee wins with huge numbers. Winless though the Jets may be, they've been a little better than expected on defense. And the Titans are awfully short-handed on offense.
A.J. Brown (hamstring) won't play, and Julio Jones also has some kind of leg injury; his status is supposedly "up in the air" to even be available. Once you get past those guys, Tennessee's wide receivers are Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Chester Rogers and Cameron Batson -- not a scary group. And the Jets have played wide receivers, and passing games in general, pretty well to this point.
Three games into the season, the Jets have allowed only 1 TD pass. It's early and matchups affect these things, but still. That's the fewest passing touchdowns in the league.
| PASSING TOUCHDOWNS ALLOWED | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defense | PTD | WR | TE | RB |
| NY Jets | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Denver | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| LA Rams | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Las Vegas | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Buffalo | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Carolina | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| New England | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| New Orleans | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Cincinnati | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Houston | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Jacksonville | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| LA Chargers | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Philadelphia | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Arizona | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Baltimore | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Cleveland | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Kansas City | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Miami | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| San Francisco | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Seattle | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Chicago | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Minnesota | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| NY Giants | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Pittsburgh | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Tennessee | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Washington | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Dallas | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Detroit | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Atlanta | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Green Bay | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Indianapolis | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| Tampa Bay | 9 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
This of course might translate into a big game for Derrick Henry. If the Titans are that shorthanded at wideout, certainly they'll run a lot. New York ranks a respectable 14th in run defense so far, but has allowed 5 TDs on the ground. Sounds like if the Titans score 3 TDs, and they might, at least 2 will be rushing scores, for either Henry or perhaps Ryan Tannehill. Also if they score only 2 TDs, which they will.
Anyway, I know the Titans will be a popular pick in Survivor Pools, and that's fair -- they're very likely to win this game. But I'm not expecting huge, blowout type numbers. Especially in terms of touchdown passes.
--Andy Richardson