Dolphins vs. Titans: Full Tennessee Game Preview
Losing streaks always bring along frustration, and the frustration for the Tennessee Titans is reaching a boiling point as they prepare for a winnable game against the woeful Miami Dolphins.
The Titans are actually favored by 2.5 points, per Odds Shark. That's a position the Titans rarely have been in over the past several years.
Even if they're the better team on paper, the Titans have way more pressure on them than a Dolphins team that has hit rock bottom.
There's no pressure on the Dolphins, as no one is expecting much from them for the rest of the season after the firing of head coach Joe Philbin.
The Titans weren't expected to be world-beaters by any means, but they are coming off a 2-14 season. Fans are beginning to lose their patience, if they haven't already.
This game is all about how Tennessee will handle being the slight favorite, and if it can cope with the pressure of badly needing a win to reverse the narrative that it's no different than the 2014 team.
Location: Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
TV: Channel 5 WTVF (Local)
Week 5 Results and Recap
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All three losses have been hard to swallow for the Titans as they were competitive in all of them. However, the loss to the Buffalo Bills has to be one of the most frustrating in recent memory.
The Titans once again fell victim to giving up the chunk plays that swing momentum. To use a boxing analogy, they had the Bills basically down on the mat and allowed them to get back up for the quick knockout in the final round.
Teams can always circle a few plays that kept them from winning, but the argument couldn't be stronger for the Titans in their three losses.
Marcus Mariota faced another tough defensive challenge against the Bills and managed the game as well as you could expect from a rookie who was playing in his fourth career game. He had his most inaccurate game of his young career, which was no surprise. He did avoid taking too many big hits by getting the ball out quickly, though.
The Titans controlled the time of possession until the final six minutes of the game, and they need to take what worked from this game into Week 6 against the Dolphins.
There is a silver lining going forward. This team has clearly made strides with Mariota as the starting quarterback and with a flashier defense led by Dick LeBeau. Until the end result becomes actual wins in the standings, then this silver lining will continue to ring hollow.
Here are the updated AFC South standings, with the Colts beginning to gain some ground after reeling off three straight division wins:
The Titans need to turn around their 0-3 conference record if they're going to stay relevant into November, and they can start by beating a bad Dolphins team.
News and Notes
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Ken Whisenhunt's Seat Is Getting Much Hotter
Patience is wearing thin for Ken Whisenhunt to start producing results, and rightfully so. We don't need to be too quick to judge as he still has three-quarters of the season left to prove he is pulling this franchise out of the putrid state that it has been in for nearly a decade.
You can't put any positive spin on Whisenhunt's current record as head coach for Tennessee, which is 3-17. He's also won just one game at home while coaching the Titans.
Some of the plays that he called against the Bills have been questioned, particularly the final play call. It ended in an interception and appeared to be way too aggressive with the Titans having plenty of time to cover 35 yards to get into field-goal range.
The locker room may also be coming undone, most notably with Kendall Wright. Whisenhunt says there aren't any major issues, according to Jason Wolf of the Tennessean:
"Whisenhunt on frustration among players from losing 3 straight: "It's not fun. I don't think there are any issues with our team." #Titans
— Jason Wolf (@JasonWolf) October 14, 2015"
We can all agree that the circumstances were not favorable for Whisenhunt when he took over last season. However, he has more talent to work with in his second season. These late collapses sometimes get chalked up to the head coach.
Whisenhunt deserves some patience from fans as he does have this team competing hard every week. The Titans haven't been blown out or have appeared to give up.
He deserves to finish this season out and then be judged on whether he's making progress for this franchise, but the ice will get thinner if Tennessee loses to the Dolphins. He is lucky enough to play in the AFC South, which leaves him some time to save this sinking ship.
Titans Still Can't Defend the Deep Ball
Giving up big chunk plays has become a disturbing trend for this defense. These types of plays swing momentum completely to the other side, even if you've had your foot on their throat for most of the game.
That's exactly what happened against the Bills, who were overmatched for the most part. The problem was that the Titans never took advantage of that on the scoreboard. They kept playing the field-position game, and eventually the Bills made them pay.
In all three losses, there's a common trend of giving up big, momentum-changing throws. The Titans have to eliminate this or decide to start blowing teams out. The former is obviously the more obtainable approach.
Ryan Tannehill is capable of making those same big throws that the Titans have fallen victim to. For what it's worth, no one thought Johnny Manziel or Tyrod Taylor was capable of beating the Titans with his arm.
Even the struggling Dolphins will make the Titans pay if they don't fix this immediately. It's likely that the Titans will play with another lead against the Dolphins, but how they protect that lead is a big area of concern.
Jason McCourty should continue to get back into game shape, but Coty Sensabaugh and Perrish Cox need to be more consistent.
Kendall Wright Voiced His Frustration Following Bills Loss
Some discord is accompanying this three-game losing streak, and Kendall Wright wasn't shy about voicing his frustration after losing to the Bills, per TitanInsider.com's Terry McCormick:
"#Titans WR Kendall Wright: I want to be relevant again. http://t.co/LIK6Ga0Api
— Terry McCormick (@terrymc13) October 11, 2015"
You may think that Wright is playing the diva role here, but Whisenhunt seemed to have taken it differently:
"Whiz on Kendall Wright's complaint: You want players that want the ball and when you lose like we did yesterday, everybody is frustrated.
— Terry McCormick (@terrymc13) October 12, 2015"
Wright is the most dynamic offensive player not playing quarterback on this team. He's actually having a good season statistically, so it's clearly more about his frustration of losing. That is something you want to see out of an offensive leader. It would be much more disheartening if he were putting up mammoth numbers but didn't seem to care about the losses.
Latest Injury News
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| Player | Position | Injury |
| Chance Warmack | OL | Knee |
| Sammie Hill | DL | Knee |
| Anthony Fasano | TE | Concussion |
| Taylor Lewan | OL | Shoulder |
| Deiontrez Mount | LB | Knee |
| Cody Riggs | CB | Knee |
| Avery Williamson | LB | Hamstring |
The biggest injury of note this week is the status of Chance Warmack. At the very least, the Titans need him back for chemistry reasons.
Warmack actually hasn't played all that well this season, but offensive lines need chemistry to be fully effective. According to a report from Jason Wolf of the Tennessean, Warmack will play against the Dolphins and have the task of blocking Ndamukong Suh:
"#Titans G Chance Warmack (knee) & CB Cody Riggs (knee) full participants. Warmack says he'll definitely play vs #Dolphins.
— Jason Wolf (@JasonWolf) October 14, 2015"
This is an earlier return than originally expected from Warmack.
Taylor Lewan is a concerning name to see pop up on the injury report. He was a limited participant in practice on Wednesday, but it's more than likely he'll figure out a way to play against the Dolphins.
Another new name on the injury report is Anthony Fasano, who suffered a concussion against the Bills. Don't expect to see him against his former team as the Titans are deep at tight end. We'll see more of Delanie Walker and Craig Stevens.
It's still unclear if Avery Williamson will be able to play through a hamstring injury.
All injury information via TitansOnline.com.
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Key Matchups
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Titans Offensive Line vs. Ndamukong Suh/Cameron Wake
As much turmoil as the Dolphins are in right now, they're still a defense that can't be overlooked. The danger lies with the pass rush, which is loaded with talent.
Teams are realizing that they can't let Marcus Mariota get comfortable in the pocket. He will take over and pick secondaries apart. That's why the Dolphins will want to be just as aggressive as the Browns and Bills were.
The offensive line of the Titans can make this game almost impossible for the Dolphins to win if the unit can give Mariota some adequate protection.
The Titans may employ the fast approach of getting the ball out of Mariota's hands quickly to make it harder on the Dolphins pass-rushers to get to the passer. This Dolphins teams is beaten up and has little to lose. Miami will bring a nasty pass rush to rattle Mariota, and the offensive line will have to respond with a solid game.
Titans Passing Offense vs. Dolphins Secondary
The opportunity for Mariota to excel through the air will be there against the Dolphins much more than there was against the Bills.
Mariota is growing more comfortable by the week within this offense, and he's also developing chemistry with his receivers. There's a transition period for every new quarterback, and some people forgot that when they saw Mariota blast through the gate in Week 1. He's come back down to earth after playing some formidable defenses.
With that in mind, he is due for another big game. It's only a matter of time, and now he gets a favorable matchup at home.
Mariota needs to get multiple targets involved. This passing offense is balanced, with Kendall Wright being the modest No. 1 option. However, any of these Titans receivers are capable of breaking out for a big game.
Distributing the ball evenly among several players will keep the Dolphins defense off balance, and don't sleep on a Titans running back playing a big role in the passing game as well. Screen passes could become a big part of this offense, per Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com:
"Improving screen passes a new dimension for Titans' offense http://t.co/ZR78rpHgmK #Titans
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) October 14, 2015"
Balanced offenses are hard to game-plan for, and the Titans have plenty of viable options at their disposal.
Titans Secondary vs. Ryan Tannehill
Here's some food for thought—the Titans are leading the NFL in passing yards allowed per game at 167. You wouldn't know that after seeing them give up a handful of long pass plays that have led to their three losses.
The Titans need to live up to this top ranking and completely shut down Ryan Tannehill, who is facing some tough times as the Dolphins signal-caller.
Solving this equation is as simple as not allowing Tannehill to make any game-changing completions when the outcome of the game is in question. Even if the Titans are up by multiple scores, they simply cannot bail Tannehill out by allowing a few big plays to beat them.
Tannehill's chances of putting together a complete game to beat the Titans is highly unlikely. His lack of offensive talent around him hurts those odds.
Prevent Tannehill from winning the game on just a couple of chunk plays, and the Titans should have no problem in limiting the Dolphins offense to 14 points.
Matchup X-Factors
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Matchup X-Factor: Marcus Mariota
It may be the easy choice taking Mariota as the X-factor, but it makes the most sense.
His resiliency is going to keep getting tested until the Titans starting winning close games. It doesn't matter how bad the opponent may be—Mariota has to show his toughness in getting the Titans back on the winning track.
There is immense pressure facing Mariota going into this game. The negative vibes will multiply dramatically if the Titans lose their third straight home game to a bad Dolphins team.
It will be important for Mariota not to try to change the negative vibes with just one play. He has to be methodical in his approach and realize he has the better team around him.
A well-managed game from Mariota, free of any disastrous mistakes in his own territory, will put the Titans in a great position to win a game they should win.
Underrated X-Factor: Derrick Morgan
Very few are talking about Derrick Morgan's hot start. He's just a half sack behind the NFL leader with 4.5.
Morgan has become comfortable in his role at outside linebacker. He had been regularly underperforming at his natural position of defensive end previously, so the transition has been a success so far.
He created havoc the entire game against the Bills and played a huge role in the Titans not surrendering a first down until well into the second quarter.
Another productive day at the office should be ahead for Morgan against a quarterback who is struggling and an offensive line that has given up 10 sacks through four games.
Prediction: Titans 21, Dolphins 13
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Moods are sour, and frustrations are boiling right now for the Titans. This is mainly due to how they have given up leads in nearly every game and had a horrible start plague them in their loss to the Browns.
This team is too talented not to get over the hump and break through with a win. Tennessee is getting a Dolphins team that has much bigger problems right now.
The Titans have an enormous amount of pressure entering this game as they are the actual favorites. There will be no room for excuses or "moral victories" with a loss to the Dolphins. This pressure will be a positive force for the Titans, and they will put the Dolphins away when they have a chance by wearing them down.
They've shown that they can be the better team against much worthier foes than the Dolphins.
A respectable Dolphins defense could keep fans worried going into halftime, but the Titans should take control after that. So long as the Titans avoid being predictable, then the Dolphins pass rush will not be enough to keep the score low.
One area that could tilt the scales in the favor of the Dolphins is forcing turnovers in Titans territory. Mariota has given us no reason to think that he won't protect the football.
Speaking of Mariota, he's set for a solid game statistically. He will distribute the ball effectively to multiple targets, while the committee of running backs will keep the Dolphins defense off balance.
A win over a downtrodden Dolphins team will do little to change the narrative that the Titans may still be a long way from competing for the playoffs. However, they do get a win in order to avoid a serious train wreck.
Prediction: Titans 21, Dolphins 13
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