Titans @ Broncos Preview – 5 Steps to Win the Game

Are the Titans that bad without Albert Haynesworth? I honestly don’t think so. Everything went wrong for Jeff Fisher‘s club last Sunday against Jacksonville, including a season-low 68 yards on the ground. Until then, they’ve had a lot of success running the football, ranking in the top 5 in the league.

This is going to be a tough challenge, but handing an AFC team a loss is always beneficial. Taking a glance at the AFC Wild Card picture – the Titans and Jaguars both sit at 6-3, while the Bills and Browns enjoy a 5-4 record. While the Titans and Jags could challenge for the South at a mere game back, they’ve already lost home games to the Colts, so I don’t expect them to steal the division from Peyton Manning. With a win against Tennessee, we would be elevated to 5-5, dropping them to 6-4, making us a game back from the AFC Wild Card picture. While I want nothing short of the AFC West title, any door to the playoffs is one worth going through.

Here are my 5 steps to win the game.

1. Keep the Titans defense guessing

The Titans defensive line has been dominant this season, perhaps the best in the league, giving our banged up offensive line quite a challenge. Even with added tight end protection, and even if Haynesworth doesn’t go, I don’t see our smaller linemen getting much of a push against these beefy DTs (think Jacksonville game week 3). We need to keep the Titans defense guessing to give the offensive line an edge.

In other words, start throwing. Take a few deep shots. Let Jay Cutler let it hang. They’re running low on the cornerback depth chart without Pacman Jones and Nick Harper – let’s test their corners with deep routes to Glenn Martinez and Brandon Marshall. Then give them a heavy dose of Selvin Young and (possibly) Travis Henry, up the middle and on the slant. Starting out strong with a touchdown drive could be crucial to set the tone. If we go 3 and out I could see this defense begin to have its way with us.

2. Stop the Titans running game

LenDale White is from Colorado and even wanted to be a Denver Bronco coming out of college. He should be ready to go on Monday and could cause the Broncos problems with his physical running style. We need to match his physicality, which means it could be a perfect week for John Lynch to return to the field. As D.J. Williams said last week, the linebackers need to let their pads do the talking.

3. Contain and pressure Vince Young

Doing both at the same time is the real difficulty in that. John Elway was the master at beating pressure – his offensive tackles would move the pass rushers inside, and before they could get to #7 he’d be gone on the outside. Then he’d throw a deep 70 yard bomb to the other side of the field. God, I love John Elway.

Young definitely doesn’t have that same threat in his accuracy, and our corners should have no problem keeping pace with the Titans receivers, but Young could break a long run at any moment. The more I think about it, the fact that he may not have great options at passing the ball may force him to just tuck it in and run it. I would move Lynch or Foxworth inside the box and let Ian Gold spy on Young all night long. Make it his job to make sure Young doesn’t gain yards running.

4. Finish Drives

Yards may be hard to come by if the Titans are able to take away the deep ball with a pass rush. I already mentioned mixing it up as much as possible to keep this defensive line guessing, but either way we need to make sure we punch the ball in each and every time we’re in the red zone. A turnover like the Green Bay Monday Night fiasco is the last thing we need (in the end, that fluke guard-forcing fumble cost us the game. Game of inches).

Get the tight ends involved. Teams are focusing on covering Tony Scheffler, which could leave Daniel Graham open for a touchdown grab like last week. Make it happen.

5. Force turnovers

There’s no reason we can’t intercept Young 3 times or more in this game. The Titans have won despite these turnovers earlier this year, and in games where Young has been half decent they’ve been dominant. He has 10 interceptions to 6 touchdowns (4 passing, 2 rushing) on the season, making him prime for the picking.

A defensive touchdown would be nice, too. We’re 2-0 when we get those.

I think we can and will win this game as long as each player takes care of their own business. Go Broncos!