Seahawks vs. Titans: Behind Enemy Lines for Week 2 matchup
The Seattle Seahawks play their first home game of the season tomorrow against the Tennessee Titans. While Tennessee has played some thrilling national games the last couple of years, it’s still been four seasons since Seattle met them.
To learn more about this week’s opponents we spoke with Mike Moraitis, managing editor of Titans Wire. Here are a few questions he answered about his team and what will happen on Sunday.
The Titans got beaten soundly by the Cards last week, 38-13. What went wrong?
Andrew Nelles / Tennessean.com
Just about everything. The offensive line couldn't protect Ryan Tannehill or open up holes for Derrick Henry, and the defense was poorly coached and played horribly against the run and pass. It also didn't help that Kyler Murray was making superhuman plays to evade the pass rush. It was a nightmare 2021 debut all around.
What's your concern level about going from Arthur Smith as OC to Todd Downing?
Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Not very high. I always thought Arthur Smith was a bit overrated as a play-caller. He didn't really start having any success until Tannehill took over the starting job in 2019 and brought some competence to the quarterback position. Offensive coordinator Todd Downing has to stick to what made Tennessee's offense great, which is feeding off Henry via a heavy use of play-action, something we didn't see in Week 1. He's also got to do a better job mixing up the run and pass on early downs, something Smith didn't do well. All that said, I'm not sure any offensive coordinator could have had success with how bad the Titans' offensive line was last Sunday.
What have defenses done to effectively slow down Derrick Henry?
George Walker IV / Tennessean.com
Stacking the box and forcing the Titans to beat them through the air. More importantly, it takes Henry a few steps to really get going, so teams that can get him at or near the line of scrimmage and not let him get to the second level have the most success.
What is the Titans' greatest strength and their biggest weakness?
Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Their greatest strength is the run game. It really fuels everything the Titans do offensively. Even the pass game is setup by Henry, as Tannehill thrives off of play-action. Tennessee's biggest weakness is no doubt their defense. The secondary has been awful since 2020 no matter who is back there, and it doesn't help that defensive coordinator Shane Bowen has been a poor play-caller since taking the job last season. I continue to hope that the defense will get fixed, but I'm not sure Bowen is the coach to get that done.
What's your prediction for the final score?
George Walker IV / Tennessean.com
In the last few years, the Titans have routinely won games nobody expects them to, and this is one of those games. Tennessee is 7-0 since 2019 in games following a double-digit loss. I think the Titans respond and bounce back offensively, with Tannehill leading the charge through the air and ultimately leading his team to victory. Titans 31, Seahawks 30. [listicle id=75322]
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