Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Tennessee Titans: Report Card Grades for Tennessee
It almost turned into another disastrous loss in the final seconds, but the Titans managed to hang on and win at home, where they'd lost seven of the last eight games.
Despite Blake Bortles' best efforts, the Jaguars offense just couldn't get into the end zone, short of the scores on the opening drive and the final drive of the game. Two of the Jaguars turnovers were in the red zone.
The Titans sacked Bortles six times and limited the Jaguars to a mere 82 rushing yards. The Titans had problems of their own on offense, but three field goals by Ryan Succop and a touchdown run by Jackie Battle managed to give them the lead.
The Jaguars may be arguably the worst team in the NFL, but a win is a win. Here are grades for each Titans unit from the game.
Quarterback
1 of 9
For the second time this season, Charlie Whitehurst started for the injured Jake Locker. The Titans won the game, but it wasn't because of Whitehurst.
Whitehurst overthrew numerous targets and ended the day with 17 of 28 passes completed for 233 yards and no touchdowns. Whitehurst wasn't bad, but against a team like Jacksonville, you expect better numbers.
To his credit, Whitehurst was under pressure a lot of the time. The offensive line didn't do him any favors.
He also didn't throw any turnovers, or make any huge mistakes that would have put the Titans in the hole.
Still, it was an average performance against the NFL's worst pass defense.
Grade: C
Running Backs
2 of 9
Bishop Sankey finally got his chance to be the feature back against the Jaguars, and for a while, he wasn't looking great.
The Jaguars didn't respect the pass, so the defense focused on Sankey and stuffed him for the first half. Sankey eventually got going and finished the day with 18 carries for 61 yards.
Dexter McCluster had a couple of carries for six yards, and the lone touchdown run was a one-yarder from fullback Jackie Battle.
They could have been better, but it's hard to fault Sankey for being stuffed when the Jaguars stacked the box.
Grade: B-
Receivers and Tight Ends
3 of 9
Justin Hunter had a big game on only three receptions. He averaged over 25 yards per reception, though, and saw double coverage more than once.
Delanie Walker led the team in targets yet again, and he had 57 yards for the day.
Kendall Wright was almost nowhere to be found. He only had one target and one reception for six yards on the day.
Nate Washington had a couple of catches, including one from a very bad pass.
With a better quarterback in the game, there would have been more to talk about with the receivers, but overall, it was a good performance by the unit.
Grade: B+
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Offensive Line
4 of 9
After the Titans spent first-round picks on Taylor Lewan and Chance Warmack and spent big in free agency to land Andy Levitre and Michael Oher, you'd think they'd have a very good offensive line.
That doesn't seem to be the case.
Whitehurst was under pressure all game, and the Jaguars consistently stuffed the run for the majority of the game.
The team was missing veteran All-Pro tackle Michael Roos, but since his backup is first-round pick Lewan, that's not an excuse for a poor performance.
Grade: C-
Defensive Line
5 of 9
Jurrell Casey was unstoppable against the Jaguars, totaling nine tackles, two sacks and three tackles for loss, but he wasn't the only defensive lineman having a good day.
Ropati Pitoitua was a constant presence in the Jaguars backfield, Karl Klug came away with a sack, and each had one tackle for loss.
Then Sammie Hill came up with the blocked field goal to win the game.
The defensive line had a great game overall and were arguably the biggest reason that the Titans came out with the win.
Grade: A
Linebackers
6 of 9
The Titans linebackers have been the worst unit for most of the season, but they played well against the Jaguars.
Jacksonville ended the day with only 82 rushing yards, and 38 of those came from quarterback Blake Bortles. Avery Williamson continued to show promise, with three solo tackles and a tackle for loss.
Shaun Phillips and Kamerion Wimbley each had a sack, a tackle for loss and a defended pass. Wimbley's defended pass probably saved a touchdown.
Derrick Morgan had a defended pass and harassed Bortles pretty consistently, and Wesley Woodyard's tackling problems didn't surface in this matchup.
Grade: B
Defensive Backs
7 of 9
The defensive backs have had some problems in recent games. Jason McCourty hasn't been playing up to his abilities, and now against the Jaguars, they were missing Coty Sensabaugh and Bernard Pollard.
McCourty recovered with a solid showing against the Jags. He and Blidi Wreh-Wilson led the team with 11 tackles each, 10 solo. McCourty had one defended pass, while Wreh-Wilson had two.
Marqueston Huff had the best game of his fledgling career, with four tackles (one for loss) and a sack.
George Wilson and Daimion Stafford filled in for Pollard, and each did well.
Michael Griffin, on the other hand, did not do well. He was beaten in coverage and nearly cost the Titans the game by fumbling the onside kick.
Grade: C+
Special Teams
8 of 9
Special teams play has been abysmal this season for the Titans, but that changed for the most part against Jacksonville as well.
Brett Kern has always been good, and Ryan Succop is usually reliable, and so their good performance was no surprise. Kern had five punts, three of which fell inside the 20, and Succop nailed all three field goals.
Leon Washington showed he's still got it with a 50-yard return, and most importantly, the unit played mistake-free until the very end.
Michael Griffin fumbled the onside kick, which gave Jacksonville a chance to win the game. Everyone knew the kick was coming, so it's an almost unforgivable error on the part of Griffin.
Luckily, Sammie Hill blocked the kick when it came to hold onto the win.
Grade: C
Coaching
9 of 9
I've been critical of Ken Whisenhunt before, especially for his play-calling and for not playing Bishop Sankey as much as he should. Neither of those were an issue against the Jaguars.
Sankey saw the majority of the carries, and Whisenhunt stuck with the run, even when the Jaguars were stuffing it, and that kept the Titans offense balanced and finally cleared the way for an effective running game in the second half.
The mistake that almost lost the game isn't on Whisenhunt, either. He knew the onside kick was coming and put in the so-called "hands" team. No one would have thought that Griffin would fumble it, and you can't coach around unforeseeable mistakes by players.
The defensive play-calling by Ray Horton was also great. It was nice to see the pass rush finally get a chance to shine.
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