Tennessee Titans vs. New York Jets: What's the Game Plan for New York?

The New York Jets need 10 wins to feel good about making the playoffs. The Tennessee Titans represent the first opportunity to get win No. 8. 

On Sunday, New York will host rookie Marcus Mariota and Tennessee for a Week 14 battle that has some significant playoff implications for the Jets. With just four games left to play, they don't have much time left if they hope to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2010. 

With the Titans sitting at 3-9, is this a trap game for the Jets? Maybe, but New York isn't looking at it that way. In the team's perspective, this is must-win. So, how do the Jets get the victory?

Here's the game plan for the Jets against the Titans.

Offensive Game Plan

For the majority of this season, the offensive game plan for the Jets has been the same: Establish the run, get the defense thinking run and then take advantage of a loaded box with play-action passing. 

For all 12 of the Jets; previous games, that's what they needed to accomplish, and they did successfully seven times. However, if the last two weeks are any indication, the Jets' best hope of getting victory No. 8 may be to take the ball out of the gut of running back Chris Ivory and leave it in the hands of quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. 

Just a few short weeks ago, Fitzpatrick was playing at a level so low he seemed destined for the bench. The Jets had lost four of five games, with the final two being decided by late-game Fitzpatrick interceptions. He was forcing the ball and taking chances, and rarely were those chances going in his favor. 

Asked multiple times if he'd make a chance at the quarterback position, Jets head coach Todd Bowles said no. He was sticking with Fitzpatrick, for better or worse. After all, he was the one who led the Jets to their 4-1 start, so now he'd be the one tasked with getting them out of their 1-4 skid. 

Bowles' gamble of sticking with Fitzpatrick has paid off with back-to-back victories. What few saw coming was just how good Fitzpatrick was going to play in those games. 

Versus the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins, Fitzpatrick threw for a combined 667 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions. Last week, he led the Jets offense to 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and overtime to pull out a victory over Big Blue.

Name	Attempts	Completions	Yards	Touchdowns	QB Rating
Derek Carr	37	24	330	3	120.3
Blake Bortles	36	24	322	5	134.5

That said, Fitzpatrick's suddenly red-hot arm isn't the only reason the Jets should take to the air this coming Sunday. The Titans pass defense has played about as bad as Fitzpatrick has playing good during that same two-game stretch. 

In Tennessee's last two games, it has faced the Derek Carr-led Oakland Raiders and Blake Bortles led-Jacksonville Jaguars. The two second-year pros lit up the Titans secondary to the tune of 652 yards and eight touchdowns. Neither threw an interception. 

While Ivory won't be a forgotten man on the Jets offense and the team will still likely hand the ball off to him 20 or so times, don't be surprised if Fitzpatrick drops back 30 times as well. Similarly, it shouldn't come as a shock if he puts up impressive numbers again. 

Defensive Game Plan 

When the Jets faced the Giants last week, every defensive player talked about two things in the days leading up to the game: (1) Odell Beckham Jr. and (2) the need to get Eli Manning to move his feet. 

The way the Jets viewed it, in order to slow the Giants' offensive approach, they needed to get Manning moving. He couldn't set up shop in the pocket and scan the field. If that happened, he'd torch Gang Green's secondary. 

Against the Titans this Sunday, that game plan has done a complete 180. With rookie Marcus Mariota coming to town, New York's defense wants to keep the versatile signal-caller in the pocket. Because when he breaks out, that's when he has his most success.

Mark Zaleski/Associated Press

Despite being a rookie, Mariota has been tremendous this season when breaking out of the pocket. See, when the quarterback moves, he runs looking to throw rather than to run. When a team pressures or blitzes him, he simply runs to the area vacated by the blitzing player. 

"You know what, he’s kind of a guy with the total package," Jets defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers said. "We looked at him going back, we really feel like he’s as good as advertised from the standpoint of, this guy has shown poise and you can kind of see he’s doing exactly what they tell him to do. Then the thing is, besides the throwing, it’s the scrambling ability and then you mix in the zone-read element.

"You know, he broke an 87-yard run last week, so any time you get a dual-threat quarterback, that becomes an issue."

According to Pro Football Focus, Mariota has been blitzed or under pressure on 241 dropbacks. Despite this, he's actually "run" on just 10 of those plays. Why? Because when he feels the pressure, he doesn't immediately tuck and run. He remains calm, keeps the play alive with his legs, looks for the weak spot in the defense and fires a pass in that direction.

Mariota has thrown six touchdowns and just two interceptions when he's been under pressure and seven touchdowns to just one interception when blitzed. 

"He’s very poised," Bowles said. "He understands the offense very well. He runs the offense very well. He doesn’t just run out of the pocket; he can sit there and make all the throws, or if he sees an opening he can take off and run. So, he’s a dual threat, and he’s very mature for a rookie."

Mariota can break the defense is if he's allowed to escape the pocket and extend plays. It's imperative that the Jets keep him in the pocket and then collapse the pocket on top of him. 

Key Matchups

Michael Heiman/Getty Images

Bilal Powell vs. Titans Defense

While Allen Robinson and his 10 catches, 153 yards and three touchdowns stole the show for the Jaguars in their 42-39 victory over the Titans, running back T.J. Yeldon had a solid game as well. 

Yeldon ran for 57 yards and a touchdown on the ground while also catching four passes for 79 yards. Bortles went to the back in the flat and in the passing game quite a few times and found success doing so. Look for the Jets to look to replicate this with their own pass-catching backfield specialist, Bilal Powell. 

Appearing to be 100 percent for the first time in a long time, Powell seems to be fully recovered from a nasty sprained ankle that cost him a few games during the beginning/midway portion of the season. Now that he's back, the fifth-year pro is finding his own special niche in the offense as a third-down specialist. 

"He’s a very good receiver," Jets offensive coordinator Chan Gailey said. "He’s a very good runner out of the gun. He understands the offense and what we’re trying to get done. When he gets the ball in his hands, he makes things happen and he’s a good pass protector, I don’t want to leave that out; he’s a very good pass protector.

"He’s really that kind of all-purpose back that’s back there that’s not the big slugger."

Ivory is still the Jets' workhorse. That's known. But Powell has brought that other dimension to the team since his return, and never was it more evident than against the Giants last week. Powell set career highs in catches (eight) and yards (91), highlighted by a 25-yard touchdown reception. 

Jets wideouts Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker are going to make their plays in the receiving game, and rookie Devin Smith is going to continually be worked in. But if Powell is able to replicate what he did against the Giants, New York's offense would suddenly have a capable fourth option in the passing game. 

Delanie Walker vs. Jamari Lattimore

It was a bit of a surprising addition to the Jets defensive lineup last week. In passing situations, the team brought on special teams linebacker Jamari Lattimore and matched him up one-on-one with Giants tight end Will Tye. Minus a few snaps here and there, this was the first real defensive action Lattimore had seen all year. 

Speaking this week, Rodgers said the reason Lattimore made the Jets roster out of training camp was for his coverage ability. Now, 13 weeks into the regular season, the Jets appear ready to use that ability on a defense that is sorely lacking a coverage linebacker. 

As for why it took 12 weeks before Lattimore saw the field? Well, Rodgers said the team wanted him to "grow up" a bit more. 

If New York elects to use Lattimore in coverage again this week, there's a good chance he sees an awful lot of Titans tight end Delanie Walker. The former 49er is having a career year, having already caught 67 passes for 800 yards and four touchdowns. 

"We really feel like they’re force-feeding the ball to [Walker]," Rodgers said. "He’s a talented player, but they’re putting him in the slot, they’re putting him in the backfield, he’s playing tight end. They’re a little unique from the standpoint of a lot of teams will play on third down in 11 personnel, they stay in 12 (personnel) to force-feed him. He’s getting a lot of attention."

Tight ends really haven't found much success against the Jets this season. In fact, aside from Rob Gronkowski's 11 catches for 108 yards and a score, none has managed more than 70 yards. 

Name	Team	Receptions	Yards	Touchdowns
Gary Barnidge	Browns	3	38	0
Zach Ertz	Eagles	2	30	0
Jordan Cameron	Dolphins	2	19	0
Rob Gronkowski	Patriots	11	108	1
Charles Clay	Dolphins	5	52	0
Will Tye	Giants	3	70	0

Then again, Gronkowski was also the last tight end the Jets faced who was actually the focal point of an offense. 

It'll be interesting to see if Lattimore is tasked with covering Walker and, if so, how he performs. If Lattimore emerges as a player who can play well on passing downs, the Jets may solve one of the biggest and most obvious weak spots on the defense. 

Julie Jacobson/Associated Press

With a Jets Win

The magic number is 10, and a victory over Tennessee would give the Jets eight wins on the season. That would mean the team would need to win two of the remaining games against the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills in order to likely make the playoffs. 

With a Jets Loss

If the Jets lose, that may be all she wrote on the 2015 season. A loss means they would need some serious help in order to make the postseason for the first time since 2010.

Right now, the Jets are "in" the playoffs if things started today thanks to a conference-record advantage over the Pittsburgh Steelers. But a loss, coupled with a Steelers win against the Cincinnati Bengals, would knock the Jets out of their present playoff spot. Not to mention, it would also force the team to essentially win out in order to have even a shot at the postseason. With games against the Bills and Patriots coming up—both of whom have already beaten the Jets this season—winning out would be a difficult task. 

Prediction

When the Jets endured that difficult 1-4 stretch midway through the season, the team was humbled. That losing streak reminded New York that wins in the NFL aren't exactly easy to come by and the difference between a victory and a loss is fractionally small. One bad play, and suddenly a dash is added to the "L" column as opposed to the "W" side.

That losing stretch makes it hard to view this one as a trap game for the Jets. On paper, whenever a 7-5 team faces a 3-9 opponent, it's easy to look past it, but for the Jets, this game is as big as any they'll play this year. 

And, the Jets know that. They will play like a team that's competing for their postseason lives. 

Given Tennessee's downtrodden secondary, expect Fitzpatrick to go off. Maybe it won't be 400 yards and five touchdowns, but he's come close to 300 and three scores. Marshall will have another 100-yard game, while Decker will have his normal six catches for 60 yards and a score. It won't be a massive game for Ivory, but he'll do enough to provide a complement to the passing attack. 

Look for Mariota to show why he was the No. 2 pick in last year's draft and is one of the NFL's up-and-coming stars. He'll make some plays and flash a few times, but it won't be enough to keep this one close. 

The Jets are rolling right now, and the Titans won't stop that. 

Jets 34, Titans 16

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Connor Hughes is the New York Jets beat writer for the Journal Inquirer and Scout.com. All quotes, practice observations and advanced stats referenced are gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Connor can be reached on Twitter (@Connor_J_Hughes) or via email ([e-mail])