Last season, the Titans earned the No. 1 seed in the AFC thanks to an efficient offense and a defense that made enough plays when it needed to. It’s a formula they have used to much success under Mike Vrabel and one that was more or less expected to continue this year, especially with Derrick Henry back.
The Colts, meanwhile, spent a good chunk of last season looking like a potential darkhorse Super Bowl contender before a disastrous end to the season led to them missing the playoffs entirely. Indianapolis addressed what it deemed the main cause of those struggles by trading away Carson Wentz and replacing him with Matt Ryan.
The results have been underwhelming at best so far. Tennessee is 1-2 and Indianapolis is 1-1-1. Both sit behind the Jaguars in the AFC South, and both have a massively important game this weekend… against each other. Here are the stats that will go a long way toward determining Sunday’s result.
NOTE: All ranks through Week 3.
Titans at Colts
When the Titans have the ball…
It’s time for Tennessee to be a little bit more aggressive on early downs. The Titans have dropped back to pass on just 37.3 percent of first down plays this year, the third-lowest rate in the league only behind the extremely run-heavy Browns and 49ers. That’s despite first down statistically being Ryan Tannehill’s best down to throw so far this season. He looks to work the ball downfield while maintaining strong efficiency.
|
Ryan Tannehill This Season |
1st Down |
All Other Downs |
|
Yards per attempt |
9.5<< |
7.5 |
|
TD-Int |
2-0 |
1-3 |
|
Passer rating |
125.2<< |
67.4 |
|
Expected points added per dropback |
+0.36<< |
-0.03 |
>> Top five in the NFL
The Colts, meanwhile, are allowing the fifth-highest completion percentage and the sixth-highest yards per attempt on opponents’ first-down throws.
Tannehill should be able to be a bit more aggressive in this game, too. The Colts have the fourth-worst sack rate (3.7 percent) and the fourth-worst pressure rate (27.9 percent) in the NFL. Tannehill has taken just 2.24 seconds to throw on average this season, the second-fastest among qualified quarterbacks; only Jimmy Garoppolo has gotten rid of the ball faster. The Colts have been very good at limiting deep throws — just 12 completions 10 or more yards down field, tied for fewest in the league — but Tannehill needs to make something happen considering the time he should be afforded.
No Titans offensive preview is complete without discussing…
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