Titans vs. Patriots: What's the Game Plan for Tennessee?

After failing to take advantage of the softer portion of their schedule, the Tennessee Titans are now in the midst of their most difficult portion of the regular season. They're 3-10 and, after examining their last three opponents, staring at a 3-13 finish.

The first team up on that remaining schedule is the New England Patriots, who still have a No. 1 overall seed in the AFC playoffs to fight for.

A monumental upset by the Titans would certainly send shockwaves throughout the league and throw a wrench into the Patriots' plans for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

For this upset to happen, it will take a perfect performance from Tennessee. Even its best performance of the season may not be enough to overcome the huge talent gap between these two rosters.

Here is an overview of how the Titans should be game-planning for the defending Super Bowl champions.

Offensive Game Plan

There's really no secret to how the Titans can become a better offensive team— they have to find a reliable running game. Not only do they have to look to it at the beginning of the game, but showing commitment to that run game is a must.

When teams aren't respecting the Titans' running game, it makes things a lot more difficult for Marcus Mariota. In fact, Mariota has been much better when teams blitz him, per Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com.

The trio of Antonio Andrews, David Cobb and Dexter McCluster saw just 10 combined carries last week against the New York Jets. It's no wonder why the Titans only avoided the shutout thanks to a trick play that led to a Mariota touchdown reception when the game was already out of reach.

It's baffling that Andrews hasn't seen more opportunities to take control of games. He has 127 rushing attempts and has averaged nearly four yards per carry in those attempts.

The team hasn't shown faith in feeding him the ball in the second half. It's as if the team quickly panics whenever the opponent takes the lead.

With so many limitations currently plaguing the Titans' passing attack, they have no other choice but to show more loyalty to Andrews and the rest of the team's stable of young running backs. It's looking like Bishop Sankey will get another chance to make an impact on the team, per Jason Wolf of the Tennessean: 

"

Mularkey: Bishop Sankey is working hard. "I haven't seen him down in the dumps." Will see expanded role down stretch. #Titans

— Jason Wolf (@JasonWolf) December 17, 2015 "

Eric Christian Smith/Associated Press

Sankey is worth another look with the season dwindling down, and the Titans searching for any answers they can find on offense will ultimately benefit Mariota.

It's easy to forget how sharp Sankey looked in Week 1 when the Titans obliterated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Sankey averaged over six yards per carry in that game, but a couple of costly fumbles on kick returns and the return of Cobb ultimately took him out of the equation.

Sankey will certainly be playing with something to prove this week, and that sometimes brings out the best in players. He deserves the opportunity to see several offensive touches to see if he can change the perception surrounding him. The Titans have nothing to lose by giving Sankey another chance.

Another missed game by Kendall Wright will put even more emphasis on being successful at running the ball. Wright has officially been ruled out for this week, per Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com:

"

Kendall Wright out for Sunday @Titans

— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) December 18, 2015"

You have to like Delanie Walker's chances of having another strong week if the Titans can set up more play action by being successful at the line of scrimmage.

Defensive Game Plan

Analyzing how to stop the Patriots' offensive attack is a loaded question. Many people recognize that you first must figure out how to disrupt the connection between Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, but that's a extraordinarily tough challenge.

It will take a near-perfect effort from Tennessee's linebackers to keep Gronkowski from taking over the game. They'll have to be physical with him at the line of scrimmage while also being quick enough to keep up with his speed.

Brian Orakpo, Avery Williamson and David Bass should all be on high alert to contribute in containing Gronkowski.

A strong day from the safety position will also be needed, as those players will be put in difficult situations to cover Gronkowski on deep patterns.

However, Gronkowksi is just one part of the equation to keeping the Patriots from scoring at will. It's a big part, but there are also plenty of other factors that the Titans will have to contain.

Brandon LaFell will pose the biggest threat on the outside to Tennessee's cornerbacks, and Perrish Cox will most likely draw that assignment.

Despite his obvious talent, LaFell hasn't been efficient when it comes to securing his targets from Brady. He's secured fewer than half of his 64 targets this season. Your odds of having some success at limiting the Patriots' passing attack are much better if you force them to look in the direction of LaFell more often.

The Patriots have always been great at getting by without a superstar running back, and they'll enter this game with an injury-depleted unit.

The latest injury was to LeGarrette Blount, which would have been a tough matchup for a suspect Tennessee rush defense. James White and Brandon Bolden will be the duo that fills in for New England, and Tennessee has to be razor-sharp at limiting these two.

There's no doubting that the Patriots will get their fair share of points. If the Titans can keep them in the 20-25-point range, that will definitely be a minor victory for the defense to be proud of.

That scoring range might even leave the Tennessee offense with a shred of hope to keep the score respectable heading into the fourth quarter.

Prediction

There's no conceivable reason to have much faith in the Titans coming into this matchup. The defense seems to be wearing down at this late point in the year, and the offense is dealing with the inconvenient truth that it's extremely inexperienced at the skill positions.

In return, the Patriots are getting moderately healthy with Gronkowski and Julian Edelman. If these two weren't in the picture, then perhaps the outlook would be a little more optimistic for the Titans defensively.

Edelman's absence over the last four games has certainly made a negative impact on the New England offense. Unfortunately for Tennessee, it looks likely that Edelman will be back this week. He was a limited participant in practice this week and was noted as looking "sharp," per Jim McBride of the Boston Globe.

With the Patriots getting back to full strength for their passing attack, it's hard to expect the Titans to offer too much resistance. Perhaps they'll win a few battles on the outside with Cox, but they don't have enough weapons to shut down Brady and company.

There are also too many key injuries plaguing the Titans, with Wright and Derrick Morgan being the biggest ones.

It will be another frustrating week for Titans fans as they'll witness another lopsided defeat that will lose its suspense by halftime. It's a bleak but logical outlook.

Patriots 34, Titans 13