Film Friday: Titans at Saints
Let's dig into the key match-ups I love for the Titans against the Saints, and one that is keeping me awake at night.
Man, oh man, does it feel good for the Tennessee Titans to be back and playing meaningful football. The opening weekend opponent? The New Orleans Saints. The Titans have had some weird games against the Saints in recent years under Mike Vrabel. In 2021, Ryan Tannehill played through some sort of stomach bug and the Titans narrowly escaped Nissan Stadium with a victory. In 2019, the Saints were in the hunt for the top seed in the NFC while the Titans were just trying to sneak into the playoffs. It was a game that really meant nothing for the Titans, win or lose, as their fate would be determined during the ensuing games against AFC opponents. Tajae Sharpe caught two touchdowns in that game as the Titans played hard (again, for no real reason) but came up just short. And, folks - I’m going to be completely honest with you here….Sunday’s game could be another one that just gets fuckin’ weird.
I wouldn’t at all be surprised for the Titans to approach this game similarly to how they approached that game in 2019 - a win would be nice, and they’ll play hard, but ultimately, there are bigger fish to fry. This is a team that has started slow against NFC opponents in each of the last two seasons. The starters barely played this preseason. I’m just floating this out there - don’t be surprised if the first quarter of this game looks like a veritable preseason game for the Titans until they truly get their legs under them. That, and a match-up I’ll discuss a couple of paragraphs down, is what causes pause for me. This is a game the Titans are certainly capable of winning, but it won’t be a ‘gimme,’ as they say.
These two teams are in pretty similar spots entering the season. Retooling, as opposed to completely blowing things up, and hoping to get back into the playoff hunt after sitting out of the race for a year. So, let’s dig into what I would consider to be the key match-ups in this game.