For weeks, Tennessee Titans head coach Robert Saleh has preached progress, pointing to improvements in the team’s execution and understanding of the system. However, the Titans’ latest defeat, a 26-3 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday, leaves little evidence that the team is moving in the right direction.
Saleh did not hold back in comments to the media, noting that the game was a step back for the team, and not sugarcoating anything when it came to the entire offensive unit. It’s difficult to spin anything into a positive after this most recent dismal performance, as the Titans are still in search of their first win of the season.
Progress Stopped: Titans’ Latest Defeat Offers Few Positives
Carnell Tate Can’t Follow Up
Week 4’s game against the Baltimore Ravens looked like a potential coming-out party for rookie wideout Carnell Tate. He set season highs with 12 targets, 9 catches and 145 yards receiving. Week 5 was the complete opposite, with Tate notching season lows with 5 targets and only one catch for six yards.
Tate can’t shoulder the full blame, of course. Tennessee’s offense was only able to muster 187 yards of total offense on the day. Quarterback Cam Ward once again could not crack 200 yards passing for the fourth time in five games this season.
Obviously, the low yardage total and single reception are concerning, but what’s more alarming is that Tate just isn’t getting enough targets. Running back Tyjae Spears led the team in targets with nine this past weekend, which means Ward was throwing a lot of dump-offs. If offensive coordinator Brian Daboll can’t find ways to involve Tate more consistently, this offense will have trouble turning things around.
Offensive Line Takes a Step Back
One of the keys going into the game against the Texans was for the Titans to contain Will Anderson. The Titans did not contain Will Anderson, or the rest of the defensive line of the Texans, for that matter. Anderson rang up three sacks on the day (all coming in the 4th quarter), while Danielle Hunter added one of his own. In total, Ward was hit seven times on the day. Dan Moore Jr. in particular had a brutal day, posting a 35.5 PFF grade and sprinkling in three penalties to his stat sheet.
What had started as a bright spot with the growth of J.C. Latham and the encouraging start by Fernando Carmona Jr. now looks like a distant memory after Ward took a beating and also threw an interception due to pressure. Unfortunately, the disappointing day on Sunday was a step back for this unit.
Cam Ward Struggles…Again
The narrative of Ward making progress game by game did not show in his stat line from Week 5: just 170 yards through the air with one interception and sacked four times. On the ground, he posted just one rushing attempt for a measly two yards.
What’s even more disturbing is that he averaged just 4.7 yards per attempt with only one pass connecting for over 20 yards. The Titans could not find anything down the field, as the Texans’ secondary kept them bottled up with the interception and eight pass breakups.
Simply put, the offense has not looked in sync for a full four quarters in any game this season. Until the Titans can prove they can consistently move the ball down the field, they will continue to struggle to score points, and the calls for Ward to be benched will become louder.
The Last Word
While the defense and special teams have not been anything to write home about, it’s clear that the Titans offense has the most issues to fix right now. Saleh doesn’t want to make wholesale changes yet, but any sort of shakeup would be welcome at this point.
Moore should take a seat for next week’s game in Indianapolis, and Daboll needs to look long and hard at how to get Tate more consistently involved in the offense. If Ward is having to scramble frequently, then call plays that allow him to get rid of the ball quickly, rather than letting him run around to escape pressure just to dump the ball off and not get first downs.
The NFL is all about making adjustments. It’s time for Saleh and his staff to show they can adapt to what isn’t working and start making decisions that can turn the team around.
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