The weary Titans host the high-flying Seahawks on Christmas Eve after coming off Monday night’s emotional victory for Seattle. Tennessee’s hopes for the playoffs have been extinguished while Seattle is battling for a spot in the dance. Can the Titans play a spoiler for a team in a fight in the topsy-turvy NFC? The Seahawks have lost five consecutive road games while Tennessee is 4-3 at home with back-to-back overtime losses at Nissan Stadium. Which streak will come to an end first in this rarely-played contest?
Music City Musings – Week 16: Seattle Seahawks @ Tennessee Titans
Seahawks Offense vs. Titans Defense
Seattle’s offense has been reflective of their .500 record to date. Some solid showings mixed in with some bad performances. Geno Smith has fallen back to Earth this season after a surprisingly great season last year. Of course, Tennessee’s woeful stop unit is a tonic for what ails misfiring offenses. Can the Seahawks get back to their winning ways after being mired in a rut of sorts?
OL vs. DL Matchups to Watch
Seattle’s offensive line has been a mish-mash of good to bad depending on the position. Left tackle Charles Cross has been effective, grading out to be a top 30 player at his position. His colleague on the right side, Abraham Lucas is having a sophomore season to forget, marred by injury and inconsistency so far. The old and steady warhorse Jason Peters was his replacement for a few weeks. Center Evan Brown hasn’t been the best out there, grading out to be one of the worst at the position with a 54.2 overall score. Anthony Bradford is a rookie guard thrust into the starting role and has played like it, scoring poorly with a 48.5 overall.
Tennessee is relying on its tried and true formula of plugging anybody in the front and trying to develop them. Denico Autry has carried the load in Jeffery Simmons’ absence. The superstar defensive tackle has missed the past several weeks due to a knee injury. It’s been a jumbled mess but the line has held up for the most part until they run out of gas due to offensive struggles. Harold Landry has been slow to recover his pre-injury form but has come on lately. Their front has taken a ton of hits and run defense hasn’t been the same without the released Teair Tart. If there ever was a time to exploit the weakness of Seattle’s interior, this is it. Exposing Lucas with both Arden Key and Landry could do the trick alongside blitz-heavy schemes.
Skill-on-Skill Matchups to Watch
If there was a big mismatch a couple of weeks ago, it’s even bigger this week between the Seahawks receivers and Titans’ defensive backs. Superstar DK Metcalf, when not provoked into mind-numbingly egregious errors, is one of the best receivers in the league. The Titans don’t have anyone physically capable of guarding him. Venerable veteran Tyler Lockett still looms as the go-to receiver when the yards are needed for Smith. After a rough start, rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba has come on lately. Seattle also features a pair of safety valve tight ends in Noah Fant and Will Dissly. Kenneth Walker and rookie Zach Charbonnet have proven to be adept at running routes out of the backfield. Both young backs will be a nightmare for the Titans’ linebackers in both the run and pass game.
Tennessee’s secondary is going through it. Both starting safeties Amani Hooker and K’Von Wallace have been declared out along with top corner Sean Murphy-Bunting. The depth will be tested, that’s for certain. Depth has been repeatedly exploited like Eric Garror, Anthony Kendall, and Tre Avery at cornerback. Terrell Edmunds and Elijah Molden are the likely starters at safety. The linebacker room isn’t immune to injuries as well as starter Jack Gibbens and key backup Luke Gifford are out. It appears that recent pickup Garrett Wallow (Texans) and rookie UDFA Otis Reese IV might elevate their roles.
Titans Offense vs. Seahawks Defense
Tennessee’s offense is one in transition, to say the least. Seattle has a defense capable of hanging around on anyone not named San Francisco (not a lot of teams have, frankly). Will Levis has played like a rookie at times and is currently questionable with an ankle injury suffered last week. If he cannot go, Ryan Tannehill would get the start once again. While not as injured as the defense, the Tennessee offense has some issues.
OL vs. DL Matchups to Watch
The Titans’ offensive line has been poor, no matter who gets the start at left tackle. Jaelyn Duncan was ineffective last week and has been for some time since being inserted into the starting lineup. He’s a rookie that wasn’t ready but the team was left with little choice after Andre Dillard’s fantastical failings. After a strong start to his debut campaign, left guard Peter Skoronski has hit the rookie wall it seems. When the left side is entirely new, there’s bound to be growing pains. The only consistently competent lineman these days has been right guard Daniel Brunskill. The right side hasn’t been as bad as the left has been but it has been a struggle. Dillon Radunz is above average for the job, scoring an overall grade of 65.5.
Seattle boasts an electric front four with recently acquired Leonard Williams, Jarren Reed, Dre’Mont Jones, and Darrell Taylor all contributing to the effort. They have posted a combined 16.5 sacks of the 39 total that Seattle has. Boye Mafe has been a tremendous find and leads the team with seven sacks. They all should feast against this poor Tennessee front.
Skill-on Skill Matchups to Watch
Seattle has talent across all three levels and it shows, particularly in the secondary. They have freak shows like Riq Woolen, Devon Witherspoon (a very likely contender for DROY), and the erstwhile veteran Quandre Diggs leading the way. Like the Titans, Seattle is dealing with some injury concerns as Witherspoon and Tre Brown are questionable to play. Safety Jamal Adams has been ruled out so Julian Love or Artie Burns may get the start there. Their cornerback room is mighty thin as of this moment. The linebackers are the stars of the show as longtime veteran Bobby Wagner is putting up yet another Pro Bowl-caliber season and Jordyn Brooks is building his sterling resume.
Tennessee on the other hand is a one-man band at receiver with DeAndre Hopkins being the only legitimate threat. Treylon Burks has shown flashes since returning from injury, however. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine has been ruled out. The Titans are reaching deep into their depth chart for receivers as Chris Moore, rookie Colton Dowell, and Mason Kinsey all expect to play prominent roles. It will be a tough climb for these receivers against a talented secondary. Derrick Henry had a miserable outing last week and will look to rectify that.
Weather Report
Sunday’s weather projection in Nashville calls for a temperature of 69 degrees and a minimal seven percent chance of rain. The chance of rain jumps to 60% during the night but both teams should escape the elements during the game. Humidity during the game should be around 60% before jumping up to 74% after the final whistle. Winds are predicted to blow in a Southeastern direction at seven miles per hour. Tennessee holds the weather advantage as the Seahawks will practice in 40-degree weather before making the trip south.
Odds and Ends
These two teams don’t meet often and have played 18 times with Seattle holding a 10-8 advantage. They have played five times this century with Tennessee winning three of the five. Pete Carroll has faced off against the Titans three times, winning just one of those contests. In those three games, Tennessee leads the scoring margin by 26.3 to 25.6. Carroll holds an 8-4 record against the AFC South during his tenure in Seattle to date.
Uniforms
Titans
🚨Wardrobe check:🚨 The #Titans will be decked out in all navy — jerseys, britches and socks — in Sunday’s game vs the @Seahawks. #BritchesReport pic.twitter.com/GDdRDMls3g
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) December 20, 2023
Seahawks
Wearing white on navy in Nashville. pic.twitter.com/8KCKClU8F0
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) December 21, 2023
Draft Pick Watch
Seattle holds the 15th overall selection in a four-way tie between 7-7 teams for 13th. New Orleans is the leader in the seven-win clubhouse pending Thursday night’s results. Interestingly, three teams are also 7-7 but in the playoff race standings.
Tennessee currently holds the ninth selection and is the last among five five-win teams due to the strength of schedule tiebreakers. The Bears have the lead in that group, holding the fifth choice.
Main Photo: Andrew Nelles – USA Today Sports
