Semi-coherent Philadelphia Eagles vs. Tennessee Titans preview

What a difference a week makes.

Last week at this time, the Eagles were feeling pretty good about themselves. They were coming off a Monday night demolition of the Carolina Panthers that had many people believing that they were a top contender in the NFC.

But after receiving a hearty beat down of their own at the hands of the Green Bay Packers, it’s clear that the Eagles have some work to do before they can be considered among the elite in the conference.

It is crucial for the Eagles to put the loss behind them. They can’t let last week’s loss linger and cause them to struggle against an opponent that appears to be very beatable.

Tennessee Titans

Record: 2-8 (1-4 road)

Head coach: Ken Whisenhunt (2-8 with Titans)

Last week: Lost to Pittsburgh Steelers

The last time they met

In October 2010, Kevin Kolb received another chance at being the Eagles’ starting quarterback. After being demoted in favor of Michael Vick, Kolb was once again thrust into a starting role when Vick suffered a rib injury.

In his first two relief starts, Kolb played well and led the Eagles to wins over the Falcons and 49ers. His third start didn’t go nearly as well.

Kenny Britt. Image Credit: Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports

Kolb had three turnovers in the game, and combined with a collapse by the defense, the Eagles suffered an ugly 37-19 loss at the hands of the Titans.

Defensively, the main problem was that they couldn’t stop Titans receiver Kenny Britt. Britt – despite being benched to start the game – had seven catches for 225 yards and three touchdowns.

After the game, Andy Reid declared that Michael Vick would be reinstated as the starter in the next game, essentially ending Kolb’s tenure in Philadelphia.

What’s the deal with the Titans

The Titans are not a good offensive team. They’ve got a rookie quarterback, a rookie running back, and an offensive line that doesn’t always make life easy on either of them.

Delanie Walker. Image Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Remember how much trouble Bradley Fletcher had covering Packers receiver Jordy Nelson last week? Chances are, he’ll have an easier time of it this week because the Titans don’t have any receiver nearly that good.

Their best receiver is probably tight end Delanie Walker, and he’s not even certain to play in the game. He’s recovering from a concussion, making his status questionable.

On defense, the Titans have been good against the pass, but very bad against the run. In theory, this should mean a big day for LeSean McCoy. But as I’ll discuss later, that might not turn out to be the case.

Key Titans player: Zach Mettenberger

I’ll be honest, it took me a long time to think of any player on the Titans roster. I thought that Jake Locker might have been their quarterback, but I really wasn’t sure.

Nov 17, 2014; Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Titans quarterback Zach Mettenberger (7) passes against Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison (92) during the first half at LP Field. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

As it turns out, Locker is on the Titans’ roster, but he is not the starting quarterback. After a few injury-plagued seasons of lackluster play, when Locker suffered yet another injury, Titans coaches decided to move on.

In his place, the Titans have gone with rookie Zach Mettenberger, their sixth round pick in the 2014 draft.

Due to his long last name and large size, Mettenberger has been compared to Ben Roethlisberger. So far, Mettenberger hasn’t quite encountered the same success that “Big Ben” did as a rookie.

In four games, Mettenberger has played decently, throwing five touchdowns against four interceptions. However – and this is far from being all Mettenberger’s fault – the Titans have lost all four games.

The rookie did show improvement last week. After opening the game with a pick-six, Mettenberger rallied, and almost led the team to a huge upset over the Steelers.

Reason to hate the Titans

The Eagles used to own the Houston Oilers. In fact, the Eagles have never lost to a team that hails from Houston.

But since the Titans moved from Houston to Tennessee, the tables have turned. The Eagles have played the Titans four times since then, and have come up short all four times.

Perhaps the worst loss came in 2006. Facing what seemed to be an unimposing Titans squad, the Eagles played poorly en route to a disappointing loss. Worse, Donovan McNabb suffered a season-ending knee injury during the game.

So hopefully the Eagles can finally find a way to beat the Titans and get some revenge for good old Donovan!

Key Eagles storyline: Whither the running game

The Eagles running game was supposed to be fixed. Lane Johnson, Evan Mathis, and Jason Kelce are back in the starting lineup, and that should have made everything better.

Nov 16, 2014; Green Bay, WI, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy (25) runs past Green Bay Packers cornerback Casey Hayward (29) in the fourth quarter at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

I’ll concede that the rushing attack hasn’t been bad lately. But it certainly hasn’t been the team-carrying strength it was in 2013, and LeSean McCoy isn’t putting up the All pro numbers of last season.

Part of the problem has been that Mathis and Kelce haven’t seamlessly returned to action. It was probably unrealistic to expect them to step right back in and dominate, but now that they have a couple of games under their belts, they need to get back to their old form.

Part of the problem is that opponents are going all out to stop the Eagles’ run game. If a defense is going to stack the line on most plays, even the best running back is going to have trouble finding room to run.

While Eagles coaches will deny it to no end, I think the departure of DeSean Jackson has hindered the rushing attack. Defenses were determined not to allow Jackson to get behind them, so they’d almost always have a safety play deep. While Jeremy Maclin is having an excellent season, he simply doesn’t put the same fear into opposing defenses.

It would help if Eagles quarterbacks could make defenses pay for crowding the line, but neither Nick Foles nor Mark Sanchez has been able to consistently connect on deep balls.

For what its worth, although he insists that there’s nothing wrong with him, McCoy also doesn’t seem to have the same explosiveness he did last year. It feels like he’s not making tacklers miss the same way he used to.

Against a Titans defense that is weak against the run, McCoy should be able to have a big day. But that’s been said several times before this season.

Disney song that relates to this week’s game

After last week’s loss, it’s easy for fans to believe that this year’s Eagles team is not going to be the one to end the Super Bowl drought.

If that is the case, this will just be yet another year in the “Age of Not Believing”

Foles vs. Sanchez

Last week was not a good one for the Mark Sanchez backers. While the loss can hardly be pinned on him alone, he certainly didn’t stand out in a good way.

Elsewhere in the NFL

With the Raiders’ win over the Chiefs on Thursday night, the circle of NFL parity is complete!

You could now make a case that by virtue of this win, the Raiders are now Super Bowl favorites. It would be an insanely stupid case, but still, a case could be made.

Prediction

What did last week mean?

Maybe the loss means nothing. Remember back in 2004 when the undefeated Eagles went to Pittsburgh and got stomped by a hot Steelers team? The Eagles went on to win their next six games after that.

Last week, the Eagles were playing on short rest, and might have been just a bit too high on themselves after the win over the Panthers. Probably not the ideal time to travel to Green Bay to face a red-hot Packers team.

On the other hand, the loss might have shown us that while the Eagles can beat up on the weaker teams in the league, they still have a long way to go before they can match up against the true contenders.

Thankfully, the Titans are not one of the true contenders. They’re a team the Eagles should beat.

Had the Eagles won last week, I might have been worried, as this could have been a “trap” game. But coming off a loss, I think the Eagles will be focused and will take care of business.

Eagles 35 – Titans 14