Week 14 Game Thoughts: Titans at Dolphins

The 4-8 Titans came to Miami, taking with them a winless road record and no hopes of making the playoffs. They walked out of Miami with a 28-27 victory over a Dolphins team that had been firing on all cylinders and hadn’t lost a home game all season.

Mark this date down: December 11, 2023. It is the day that the once-promising Dolphins’ season ended. Any chance of getting the #1 seed are now slim, and if the team continues to play the way they did tonight I’m not sure they’ll even make the playoffs.

Things were bad right from the start, as the Dolphins suffered 4 injuries on the first two drives – with Connor Williams, Xavien Howard, Raheem Mostert and Jaylen Waddle all getting banged up. Williams tore a knee ligament and is now out for the season. Howard, Mostert and Waddle all returned, as did Deshon Elliott, who got injured later in the game. And to top it off, Tyreek Hill suffered a nasty ankle injury and missed most of the game. He valiantly tried to play with the injury in the second half and made some big plays, but when the game was on the line he was on the sideline.

The Williams and Hill injuries essentially destroyed the passing game. The makeshift OL – with Liam Eichenberg at center and Robert Jones at RG – was awful in pass protection, allowing constant pressure and 5 sacks. Eichenberg had several bad snaps – one leading to a lost fumble when the Dolphins were at the Titans 5 yard line – and allowed pressure up the middle all night. Jones was just flat-out terrible, getting abused over and over. The OL also had at least 4-5 penalties.

Without his top receiver and with no OL, Tua Tagovailoa struggled all game, putting forth what in my opinion was his worst game of the season. He was not on the same page with his receivers at all, resulting in several passes to nowhere and a couple of near-interceptions. On this night, Tua failed to deliver – he choked like a dog when his team needed him most. It wasn’t all his fault – at all – but he played small when the team needed him to play big. Receivers not named Tyreek Hill just couldn’t get open, even with the Titans using backup DBs after facing their own injuries. If you didn’t know Hill was the MVP before, you do now. Without him, this passing game does not exist.

The run game was actually very good – when coach McDaniel decided to use it. Raheem Mostert had 96 rushing yards and 2 TDs, and De’von Achane averaged almost 7 yards a carry on just 7 carries. McDaniel inexplicably frequently abandoned the run game, particularly in the team’s first 3 red zone trips – which resulted in just 6 points.

The defense scored the only Miami TD in the first half, on a Zach Sieler pick 6. Other than that, they SUCKED. The defense made rookie QB Will Levis, who was having a mostly-terrible season, look like an All Pro. Levis shredded the defense, picking on Xavien Howard all night. DeAndre Hopkins destroyed the defense, with 125 yards and a TD. Rookie RB Tajae Spears embarrassed the LBs, with 89 receiving yards. Derrick Henry averaged just 2 yards a carry, but scored two TDs. The defense had tons of opportunities to stop thy Titans offense, and failed over and over – particularly on 3rd downs. They allowed tons of chunk plays and just couldn’t stop anyone in crunch time.

The only offense the Dolphins had tonight came from defense and STs. The Titans muffed a punt that was recovered by Elijah Campbell, setting up a Mostert TD and giving the Dolphins a 20-23 lead in the 4th. They added to that lead after a bad pitch by Levis to Henry was recovered by Bradley Chubb. That led to another Mostert TD. And of course there was the Sieler TD early in the game. (Before you think STs was good tonight, Jason Sanders had a FG blocked in the first half.)

Overall, it was a nightmare of epic proportions – and everyone contributed. It was just a horrific performance by everyone, and it ended not just in embarrassment but more importantly in a dagger to the heart for this team’s plans. In just 60 minutes, we went from thinking about a Super Bowl appearance to wondering if this team has what it takes to even make the playoffs. It’s hard to imagine a 9-4 team being on life support, but that’s exactly where we are after this devastating loss. I’d call it one of the worst losses in franchise history, given the opponent and everything that was on the line. You now have to wonder: if the Dolphins offense can’t score against a horrifically-bad Titans defense missing their best player (Jeffrey Simmons), how in the world are they going to score against the murderer’s row of defenses they will face the rest of the way – Jets, Cowboys, Ravens and Bills? There were thoughts of the Dolphins running the table – now, I have to wonder if they’ll win again. Because tonight was really that bad.


Hero of the Game: Raheem Mostert. Honorable mention to Tyreek Hill, for gutting it out and trying to play through his injury.

Goat of the Game: I could point out any number of individual players, but to make it easier let’s just give it to everyone not named Raheem Mostert or Tyreek Hill. It was a disgustingly-bad performance by a team that should be so much better.

The good news: I don't have to worry about not getting to see the Cowboys and Ravens games live. At this point, I'm not sure I want to watch this team ever again.

I tried to tell you. Just had a HORRIBLE vibe come upon me starting Thursday or Friday. Up until then I was feeling good.

This reminds me of the '97 Bears loss when they blew a 15-point lead with half a quarter left and lost in OT. That season, and the JJ Era in general, was never the same afterwards. I guess that means the next game will be similar to the 41-0 loss to the 2-win Colts later that season? Oh well.

It really does feel to me like this was a week when evil scored a decisive triumph over good that good will not be recovering from. Yes, I'm talking in general terms. Just a huge shift I felt that will lead to a LOT of really bad things really soon that will make all of us forget about sports completely--for all the wrong reasons. If I die tomorrow, I won't even be all that upset about it TBH.

Two back-breaking plays:

--Chubb gifted the Titans 4 extra points by selfishly slamming his helmet to the ground after missing a sack on a 3rd down play - despite the fact that the Dolphins stopped the Titans on the play. Result: an easy Titans TD instead of a FG attempt.

--Jason Sanders kicking a low line drive on a 44-yard FG attempt that didn't even clear the line of scrimmage and was easily blocked by a lineman.

That's 4 points the Titans shouldn't have had, and 3 we should've had.

And yet despite all that, we led by 14 with under 3 minutes to go...and are now the only team this century to blow a 14-point lead with under 3 minutes to go. #SoDolphins

DolFan 316 wrote:I tried to tell you.

You sure did. And like a fool, I refused to listen. I thought this team was different, but it's not - it's just the same old Dolphins that spend more time reading their press clippings and planning celebrations than actually preparing for the game.

Well, time to start preparing for the offseason and predict which busts we'll draft.

Bottom line, too much time planning end zone celebrations, not enough time taking the opponent seriously.

Dallas lost to Arizona, the Eagles lost to the Jets, etc. Every team has these.

If this team is up to it we can get where we want but all margin for error is gone. No more mulligans, they have to win out. It starts by taking the Jets seriously. No Phillips, no Williams, so no more bullshit celebrations or helmet slams on the field.

Christmas Eve suddenly looks huge because Dallas is playing lights out football. We simply have to hold serve against a top team sometime.

Right now in the harsh light of day, it seems hard to imagine the Phins winning any of their remaining games, and certainly not all of them. But I guess now we'll find out what type of team this really is: do they curl up in the fetal position and die, or do they band together, rise up, and dominate? There's no in between - it's all or nothing, because there's no way this team as currently constructed is winning multiple road playoff games. Win 'em all, or it's all over.

I will say this: the decision to have no real backup center on the roster could lead to the demise of the season. The drop-off from Williams to Eich is MASSIVE and impacts the entire offense. From here on out, we have no choice but to live with multiple bad snaps per game and consistent pressure up the middle. I don't know how McD can scheme his way out of a bad center, but that's the task ahead of him. And he's likely doing it without Tyreek Hill next week, so he better find some answers soon. It's a shame, because Eich had finally found a home at RG. Now, he's back to sucking at a position he should never have been asked to play.

Alama Uluave almost certainly has to be promoted to the active roster now, I'd think. If something happens to Eich in the middle of the game who else can play center?

Very disappointing. Extremely disappointing. Where to begin with this one? Let’s begin before the game even started. Did Miami come into this game with an eye down the road? Were they too concerned with playoff seeding and perhaps not as focused on the team in front of them? Are there guys on the injury report who could’ve played had this game been deemed more of a challenge? Perhaps guys being held back to be “fully” healthy for that playoff push (that may not now come)? Was Miami happily yucking it up over choreographed TD celebrations they just “knew” would happen? I wonder how many more conga lines or coordinated gyrations they had in the bag to display to a primetime audience? Gee, I sure do hope the Hardknocks guys got ‘em on film. I’m sure the NFL is creaming their gold Hall of Fame pants over the drama of a Dolphins collapse they’ll be able to broadcast to the world (but maybe not Brazil).

Injuries. Yes, it’s the NFL – everyone has injuries – but that doesn’t diminish the fact they affected the outcome. Not only the ones coming into the game, but the improbable rash of both temporary and permanent injuries suffered by Miami in this game. Clearly no injury seemed more impactful than the one to Hill. The offense looked completely lost without the star WR. I get it, Hill is an irreplaceable piece, but isn’t there someone else on this team who could step up and threaten a defense? How is it possible the fortunes of a team could be so closely tied to the presence of a single player? And a non-QB at that – even though teams now seem more and more able to overcome the loss of their QB (I doubt Miami could). I could go on and on about the litany of injuries at what seems to be all positions, but that seems to be the new reality in a 17-game schedule and maybe this just means other teams have better back-ups than Miami at some key – or maybe most – spots.

Playcalling. Look, I am not going to pretend I can decipher how to attack a defense better than McDaniel. But it would seem that leaning on the run – that seemed to be working pretty good – when your best offensive player is out would be a good idea. And I’m not talking about the wide stretch stuff preceded by the fake pitch to no one (what the hell is that?). I’m talking about the off tackle (even some of the misdirection traps worked) “Mostert’s in your second level before you know it” stuff. And why give Achane who averaged 6.7 per only 7 rushing attempts? And while it took a few opportunities, at least they finally figured out that running in the redzone worked better than fades to blanketed receivers. And yes, despite it having been blown up in several previous games, McDaniel’s insistence on calling that awful WR screen to Hill. Miami has yet to get that blocked correctly and that one as-of-now-yet-to-be-successful play has put the entire season in jeopardy. The commentators kept referring to the Titans’ defense being in a shell to eliminate deep passes. So I’m guessing Miami had nothing to defeat that? I hope this is an aberration least every team Miami faces the rest of the way will be in a shell – and not in a good way.

The refs. The Titans were penalized 2 more time, but for 2 less yards. I’d mostly say the refs were just plain bad all the way around. And had they lost, the Titans would be screaming about the Wilson (I think) catch where the second foot came down inbounds, but only after the first had tapped inbounds and then heal scrapped out of bounds. But maybe Vrabel doesn’t concern himself with iffy (sometimes not even close) challenges like someone else I know. And while the Titans were gonna score anyways, when the fuck did a defensive line shift happen too fast causing the offense to (what should have been) false start become a delay of game penalty on the defense? The defense never crossed the line of scrimmage. Can offenses now just jump whenever the DLine shifts giving themselves a free 5 yards? But much worse and damaging to Miami was what wasn’t called: offensive PI on Hopkins catch on a deep prayer and the brutal late hit on Tua (this may have influenced some of his later decisions against pressure). And someone tell Chubb to wait until he’s on the sidelines to slam his helmet – perhaps one of the most stupid, self-inflicted, unnecessary penalties ever.

And so, despite all of the above, the Titans still decided to gift wrap Miami this game. Not once (muffed punt), but twice (bad pitch) – even after spotting them 7 on an early pick six. But you know what – the Miami defense said, “Nah, we good.” But they weren’t good – at all. A defense that had held the opposition to 5 punts and 2 turnovers decided to lay down. For not one game changing drive (including a blown coverage 2 point conversion), but a second game sealing collapse that required a total of 26 fucking seconds and not one Titans’ timeout – highlighted by a 36 yard catch a stroll to the sidelines by Hopkins. After the game I heard the same old often used excuse of “miscommunication” on the backend. And yes, Miami already missing Holland was without Elliott (who left the game, came back in and left again) on those last two drives. But how do you “miscommunicate” coverage multiple times failing to stop pass plays of 12, 21, 36 and 16 – and let them get out of bounds preserving time – on those last 2 drives when you know that’s the only thing they can do to hope to win? And where was the pass rush on those drives? Gassed? Really? The Titans’ oline – comprised of backups and rookies – had been playing just as long in the same game. Nah, I think this was a clear case of, “Oh damn, the Titans just imploded. We up by 2 scores. There ain’t no way we can lose this. Maybe I’ll do the moonwalk when I score in the playoffs.” Commence cruise control sequence.

I was reticent to look too far forward before this game and I’m not going to do it now (I would suggest the same for the Dolphins’ players). This game was important. The next game is now even more important. Miami better do what it needs to do to figure out how to beat the Jets next week in Miami (having one less day doesn’t help). Cause if they don’t then…nope, not gonna do it. Beat the Jets – that is all.

oh, and certainly not the reason the Phins lost, but a contributing factor in the overall grand scheme (and a pet peeve). can Berrios do something other than fair catch punts? an attempted return once in a while would be nice.

HalCHorn wrote:Alama Uluave almost certainly has to be promoted to the active roster now, I'd think.  If something happens to Eich in the middle of the game who else can play center?

Great point. As far as I know, Lester Cotton is next in line currently.

I'd love to see Uluave get called up and take the starting job if the coaches feel he's ready - it would be HUGE to have an in-house center on the roster next season if he proves he can play.

mercury22nathan wrote:oh, and certainly not the reason the Phins lost, but a contributing factor in the overall grand scheme (and a pet peeve).  can Berrios do something other than fair catch punts?  an attempted return once in a while would be nice.

Drives me crazy. It's like he automatically puts his hand up for the fair catch - doesn't matter if no one is near him, that hand still goes up. I can only assume he's being told to do that by our wonderful STs coach, but regardless of why, it just completely kills field position.

Great post, merc.

On the refs: I'm not even going to mention the numerous missed calls and mistakes, because what's the point? But two ref decisions in particular just made me wonder what the hell is going on:

1. The "defensive line shift happening too fast". As far as I know, the DL is allowed to shift pre-snap as long as no one enters the neutral zone. That's taught in Football 101. Now all of a sudden there's a certain time when you are allowed to shift??? No. That's just a ridiculously bad - and made-up - call.

2. At the end of the half, Hopkins caught a pass and was ruled out of bounds to stop the clock. But after review, the refs ruled him in-bounds, which of course should have started the game clock again from when the play ended - at 14 seconds. But not only did the refs NOT restart the game clock, they also added 4 seconds to make it 18 seconds left! It ultimately didn't matter because the Titans had timeouts if the clock had started, but it's just these consistent mistakes that are so hard to comprehend.

I can understand missing a call or getting it wrong here and there, but to make blatant mistakes on what should be pretty simple things like these two calls is just not right. That should NEVER happen - but mistakes like this happen in every game now. Something has to be done, but of course we know that nothing will be done.

merc wrote:a second game sealing collapse that required a total of 26 fucking seconds and not one Titans’ timeout – highlighted by a 36 yard catch a stroll to the sidelines by Hopkins.

Mind-boggling defensive strategy there. The one thing you need to do there is protect the sidelines and keep everything in-bounds. Instead, the Dolphins leave receivers wide open down the field on the sideline on every down, giving up easy chunk plays and allowing receivers to stop the clock by getting out of bounds. Over and over.

Was Fangio maybe watching another game when he made his calls? I just cannot understand what the plan was - just completely nonsensical and asinine.

JMP wrote:2. At the end of the half, Hopkins caught a pass and was ruled out of bounds to stop the clock.  But after review, the refs ruled him in-bounds, which of course should have started the game clock again from when the play ended - at 14 seconds.  But not only did the refs NOT restart the game clock, they also added 4 seconds to make it 18 seconds left!  It ultimately didn't matter because the Titans had timeouts if the clock had started, but it's just these consistent mistakes that are so hard to comprehend.

y'all, please don't attack me with pitch forks, but i fear the refs got this one right. (ducks, covers and puts on tinfoil helmet).

as it turns out, after review, Hopkins was indeed ruled down inbounds at the 18 second mark, 2 yards short of the initial out of bounds ruling (that allowed the clock to run down to 14). ordinarily, the clock should have then restarted upon the refs spotting the ball. however, that is the play on which Elliot got hurt and so Miami was charged a timeout as the clock had to be stopped for the injured player. it sucks, but it was unfortunately the correct ruling.

i did not mention the missed horse collar on the Tyreek play. it was blatant and the refs missed it. but in the bigger picture far more damage had already been done by the injury and no amount of penalty yards (15 in this case) was gonna undo that. and the penalty may not have mattered as the Phins ultimately got the first down - only to have the drive later derailed by a 10 yard (very questionable - even an announcer thought so) Eich holding call on what would have been a 15 yard Mostert run.

turns out the Phins ended up punting from the 42 - which would be about a 60 yard FG. well out of Sanders range (but i do believe CC made the point earlier this week that plenty of teams have kickers who can make those regularly). in hindsight, the 3 points would've been nice there.

although the punt was a decent one and Tennessee was pinned (not quite) at the 14, but subsequently drove the 86 yards for a Henry TD greatly assisted by 22 yard pass to backup WR Chris Moore (his only catch of the game) and Chubb's helmet fling - everything else was a dink and dunk march - to knot things at 7.

so yes, they refs suck and missed the horse collar, but the Phins could've overcome the missed penalty (but for self inflicted mistakes) - they could NOT overcome the injury to Hill

mercury22nathan wrote:

JMP wrote:2. At the end of the half, Hopkins caught a pass and was ruled out of bounds to stop the clock.  But after review, the refs ruled him in-bounds, which of course should have started the game clock again from when the play ended - at 14 seconds.  But not only did the refs NOT restart the game clock, they also added 4 seconds to make it 18 seconds left!  It ultimately didn't matter because the Titans had timeouts if the clock had started, but it's just these consistent mistakes that are so hard to comprehend.

y'all, please don't attack me with pitch forks, but i fear the refs got this one right.  (ducks, covers and puts on tinfoil helmet).

as it turns out, after review, Hopkins was indeed ruled down inbounds at the 18 second mark, 2 yards short of the initial out of bounds ruling (that allowed the clock to run down to 14).  ordinarily, the clock should have then restarted upon the refs spotting the ball.  however, that is the play on which Elliot got hurt and so Miami was charged a timeout as the clock had to be stopped for the injured player.  it sucks, but it was unfortunately the correct ruling.

i did not mention the missed horse collar on the Tyreek play.  it was blatant and the refs missed it.  but in the bigger picture far more damage had already been done by the injury and no amount of penalty yards (15 in this case) was gonna undo that.  and the penalty may not have mattered as the Phins ultimately got the first down - only to have the drive later derailed by a 10 yard (very questionable - even an announcer thought so) Eich holding call on what would have been a 15 yard Mostert run.  

turns out the Phins ended up punting from the 42 - which would be about a 60 yard FG.  well out of Sanders range (but i do believe CC made the point earlier this week that plenty of teams have kickers who can make those regularly).  in hindsight, the 3 points would've been nice there.

although the punt was a decent one and Tennessee was pinned (not quite) at the 14, but subsequently drove the 86 yards for a Henry TD greatly assisted by 22 yard pass to backup WR Chris Moore (his only catch of the game) and Chubb's helmet fling - everything else was a dink and dunk march - to knot things at 7.

so yes, they refs suck and missed the horse collar, but the Phins could've overcome the missed penalty (but for self inflicted mistakes) - they could NOT overcome the injury to Hill

OK, my bad - I did not know that was the same play that Elliott got injured on - totally missed that live.

BTW, on the Titans pass interference against Ced Wilson that gave the Dolphins a first and goal at the 10 early in the 3rd quarter, Tua was absolutely, viciously hit from behind well after throwing the pass - and no penalty. A clear late hit, and roughing the passer should have been called but wasn't. The Dolphins settled for a FG on that drive. I believe the personal foul would have been tacked on at the end of the play, giving Miami the ball at the 5 instead of the 10. Maybe they get a TD if the penalty is called or maybe I'm wrong and both penalties couldn't be enforced, but either way that was a bad one for the refs to miss.

I'm done. I'm broken and beaten down by this team.

JMP wrote:

HalCHorn wrote:Alama Uluave almost certainly has to be promoted to the active roster now, I'd think.  If something happens to Eich in the middle of the game who else can play center?

Great point.  As far as I know, Lester Cotton is next in line currently.  

I'd love to see Uluave get called up and take the starting job if the coaches feel he's ready - it would be HUGE to have an in-house center on the roster next season if he proves he can play.

the Dolphins may look for some outside help at center - at least for the near term future.

Eichenberg likely will start at center in Williams’ absence but is dealing with “bumps and bruises,” McDaniel said. Miami has two offensive linemen on the practice squad who have college experience at center - Chasen Hines and rookie Alama Uluave.

“You might see us add somebody here in the near future” at center, McDaniel said.

Among veterans available in free agency: former Pro Bowl centers Ben Jones and Rodney Hudson, who are both 34.

On the 53-man roster, there’s no experienced center beyond Eichenberg, who never played center in an NFL game before this season. Guard Lester Cotton has taken practice snaps at center but hasn’t appeared at center in a regular-season game.

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/miami-dolphins/article282580383.html

but realistically, even if Miami signed someone today, its gonna take a few weeks to get up to speed. given that Armstead doesn't seem to be able to be realistically relied upon to make it through a game unscathed and it doesn't sound like Hunt is coming back anytime soon...

McDaniel said Armstead is “more conceivable” than Hunt to play against the Jets, calling Armstead “day to day” with his ankle and knee injuries.

Hunt, who is dealing with a hamstring injury, remains “week to week” and McDaniel said he would be “pleasantly surprised” if Hunt plays Sunday.

the oline is on the brink of critical failure level now. one more oline injury and i believe they're done-for boys (if not already).

I know the Jets took a long look at Ben Jones this offseason, and they have his former OL coach on staff. He's had multiple concussions in his career and I'm not sure he'll ever play again. The Jets certainly didn't think so.

Veteran starters Rodney Hudson, Chase Roullier and Justin Britt have serious knee issues and are retired.

Career backup Kyle Fuller is available, but I don't see any upside there.

Matt Skura, who spent time with the Phins a couple of years ago in training camp, could be the best option - he has extensive starting experience. But I have no idea what his status is. Nick Martin is also out there - he has a lot of starts under his belt too, but again, I don't know his current status.

So basically, it's slim pickings in free agency. Unless there's somebody on another team's practice squad that the Phins really like, I think they have to roll with what they have in-house.

Eich has shown incredible improvement at guard - especially RG - so maybe with extensive reps he'll improve at center too. Getting Hunt back - whenever that happens - will help Eich at center too. That's all we can hope for at this point.

Why, oh why, do we always think Lucy is going to let us kick that football!!!



Yep, as one of the talking heads in the Titans game stated: "This team is going to go as far as this group (the Oline) will take them."

I said early on that I thought the Oline was going to be the limiting factor for this team and it is showing up to be the case.

What I had not thought was THAT LARGE a problem was the lack of quality depth on the D-line.

The inability of the Dline to get ANY sort of pressure on Levis directly led to that loss IMO. As bad as the Offense and special teams played,
the game was lost by a defense that gave up 15 points to a team that is supposed to be struggling on offense. And the Titans made it look EASY!!!

The Phins looked like the 4-8 team and the Titans looked like the 9-4 team!!

The whole ordeal goes straight to mindset as merc says IMO. The Phins took the Titans lightly and got their arses handed to them.

Let's hope the Phins are MAD and take it out on the Jets!

One thing I failed to mention in my game thoughts...

Early on, the crowd was absolutely electric. You could tell that everyone in the stadium was on board and they were LOUD and proud. Honestly, it's the loudest Dolphins crowd I recall hearing on TV in probably decades. At the end of the game, you could hear a pin drop and everyone looked disgusted.

Win that game, and I think home field crowd noise would have been even more massive moving forward. The loss took the wind out of everyone's sails, and I fully expect a stadium full of Jets fan on Sunday.

Louis Riddick
@LRiddickESPN

#Titans pass defense game plan Monday Night - defend numbers to numbers, defend inside out, try to make the ball go outside, change the picture post snap (disguise) - resulted in 3rd lowest net pass yds for Miami offense this season. Safety play was very very well coordinated. Excellent overall plan by Vrabel and DC Shane Bowen.

2:01 PM · Dec 13, 2023

McD better prepare for the rest of our opponents to do the same things.

JMP wrote:

Louis Riddick
@LRiddickESPN

#Titans  pass defense game plan Monday Night - defend numbers to numbers, defend inside out, try to make the ball go outside, change the picture post snap (disguise) - resulted in 3rd lowest net pass yds for Miami offense this season. Safety play was very very well coordinated. Excellent overall plan by Vrabel and DC Shane Bowen.

2:01 PM · Dec 13, 2023

McD better prepare for the rest of our opponents to do the same things.

this is exactly what the Jets did in the black Friday game. and Miami tried to defeat it by throwing outside the numbers - and well, that is when Tua threw those 2 awful interceptions. those quick 10 to 20 yard outs have GOT to be thrown on a rope or else the CB is gonna jump 'em. unfortunately, those passes are not a Tua strength. Tua is fine outside the numbers on longer passes when he can launch a ball with some air under it, but that assumes the oline will give him time to do that (highly doubtful).

but all is not lost. McDaniel finally figured out how to defeat this defensive strategy in the 2nd half when he committed to the run. first half: 16 rushes for 52 yards and 24 dropbacks and 2 interception. second half: 21 rushes (including a kneel down) for 115 yards and 8 dropbacks and no interceptions.

not sure why McDaniel has to re-learn this lesson over and over, but hopefully it figure it out going into the Jets game.

Yeah, Tua likes the middle and his off-time outside routes will get picked off by a DB playing to look for an outside pass route.

Let's hope McD looks at what thew Titans did and gameplans to overcome it.

I think the main thing though is going to be the Oline's play versus the Jets D. They HAVE toi be able to run the ball to beat the Jets IMO.

With a battered, broken Oline... it ain't looking too good!!!

Even with a makeshift O-line we ran effectively for the most part on Monday night against a rushing defense that is pretty good (granted, they were missing their best D-lineman).  Titans are 6th in YPC allowed (we are 5th, BTW).  Jets aren't terrible, but at 17th they aren't great either and we ran effectively against them last game.  Incidentally, the Cowboys are 16th, the Ravens are 24th and the Bills are 29th so whatever we come up with on the O-line, we need to have them run blocking.  Mostert and Achane.  Just sayin'.

Flip side of that: yards per pass play allowed, Ravens are 1st, Jets 2nd and Cowboys 9th. Run, MM, run.....