Tennessee returns home to Nashville after a horrendous second-half performance that left a bitter taste in their mouths last week. The Titans flew out of the gates with a 17-point lead but managed to blow it in a 24-17 loss to the Bears with critical mistakes by the offense and special teams. New York limps into the matchup after a terrible showing against NFC heavyweights San Francisco, where they were outclassed from the jump. Both teams will look to pick up the pieces after dismal efforts in their respective games. Which team can dust themselves off and rebound faster than Angel Reese posting monster stats on the glass?
Music City Musings – Week 2: New York Jets @ Tennessee Titans
Jets Offense vs. Titans Defense
The Jets bring back a veteran offense led by the irascible and tempestuous Aaron Rodgers, who’s 40 and coming off an Achilles injury. New York completely revamped its offensive line, which struggled last season to protect the passer, bringing in a passel of new faces. The star power in the receiver room has a couple of new faces and returns a veteran unit. Tennessee had a spectacular debut under new DC Dennard Wilson, holding the Bears to nine points while the offense and special teams imploded.
OL vs. DL Matchups to Watch
New York brought future Hall of Fame left tackle Tyron Smith from the Cowboys and traded for Morgan Moses to play the right side. Another former Raven lineman joined as John Simpson signed to play left guard. Versatile lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker and center Joe Tippman are the lone holdovers. Moses, in particular, had a rough outing last week, earning an overall grade of 42.2 with a horrific pass block grade of 22.4. The rest of the line had bright spots; all were over 70 in the pass-blocking department.
Tippman got pressed into duty last season as a rookie, and it sometimes showed. Smith, while legendary, hasn’t played an entire season since the late stages of the previous decade due to injuries. Simpson was a mediocre starter for the Ravens and looked to have continued that form. Max Mitchell is a backup right tackle, while 2024 first-round selection Olu Fashanu backs up Smith.
Tennessee’s front line was masterful last week against the Bears’ formidable offensive line, showing immense promise. Rookie T’Vondre Sweat put on a show, dominating Chicago’s interior linemen one by one with splash plays. Sebastian Joseph-Day didn’t play much, if at all, during the preseason but made his presence known as well. Jeffery Simmons looks reenergized by Sweat’s presence next to him. The Titans showed well, making Caleb Williams think for precious seconds before acting. If the Titans can similarly harry Rodgers, who showed limited mobility, they will have a good game in the interior. The issue is that Rodgers is much more experienced than the first-timer and can release the ball with lightning-quick accuracy.
Skill-on-Skill Matchups to Watch
The Jets boast two of the best young stars in the game, with receiver Garrett Wilson and running back Breece Hall. Rookie receiver Malachi Corley looms large as a potential weapon in the future but cedes playing time to Xavier Gipson. The sophomore Gipson is featured as the Jets’ return specialist, so the Titans’ special teams must devote resources to that area. Mike Williams was signed away from the Chargers to bolster the room as a big-body threat. He didn’t register a statistic in week one and is clearly not on the same page as Rodgers. A familiar is on the same page with Rodgers, though, and that is old veteran Allan Lazard. Longtime Jet Tyler Conklin mans the starting tight end position to limited effect.
A raft of new faces showed well in the season opener and will counter the Jets’ skill players. L’Jarius Sneed and Chidobe Awuzie were effective in shutting down the Bears’ receivers until the game became untenable. Nickel corner Roger McCreary also played well, registering multiple splash plays. However, there is a clear weak link that the Jets could exploit: Quandre Diggs, who performed poorly and failed to set the edge in coverage many times. Amani Hooker is a steady veteran that was impactful as he usually is. Kenneth Murray and Ernest Jones are the newcomers who showed well. Backup linebacker Jack Gibbens is seemingly still on the roster, but he’s the culprit who allowed a game-changing blocked punt last week. The Bears blew by him, using power to rush into Ryan Stonehouse. Whoever controls the passing game will win this contest.
Titans Offense vs. Jets Defense
The Titans started hot last week, confusing the Bear’s defense with various plays, but tailed off in the second half. A half in which Will Levis made a catastrophic error that sealed his team’s fate. Brian Callahan called an excellent first half, but it reverted inexplicably to the gone Vrabel bully ball era in the second half. He will need to improve upon things against a much more talented defense that Robert Saleh will bring.
OL vs. DL Matchups to Watch
The Titans’ offensive line fared well against the Bears’ front but had moments of indecision that cost them. Rookie left tackle JC Latham looked like a rookie making his first start but had a good day in run blocking. Peter Skoronski was abysmal by his standards. Center Lloyd Cushenberry acquitted himself well in a new system. Dillon Radunz was arguably the most consistent of the men up front, but he was injured, and the lack of depth showed. Right tackle Nicholas Petit Frere showed improvement at the first time of asking, which is a good omen.
Tennessee will have its hands full trying to combat the Jets’ monster defensive front, which features the highly compensated and talented Quinnen Williams. EDGE Jermaine Johnson is quickly growing into a starting role and could be projected as the next great EDGE for Gotham. Javon Kinlaw was brought in from San Francisco to give Williams a running mate. Michael Clemons is another young piece who wants a more prominent role. The San Francisco running game devastated New York on Monday night, so it would behoove Tennessee to run the ball and test their mettle.
Skill-on-Skill Matchups to Watch
Good news for the Titans: Receiver DeAndre Hopkins is increasing his workload after being on a pitch count last week. Calvin Ridley showcased his speed and route-running ability on numerous reps, getting open for Will Levis. Tyler Boyd didn’t put up a tremendous statistical line, but he was the safety valve. Tony Pollard got the bulk of the carries, but Tyjae Spears got carries here and there. Both were heavily featured in the same play during the first half several times. Tight end Chig Okonkwo was deployed as a fullback at times as well.
The Jets’ vaunted secondary is even better than what the Titans faced in Chicago. New York has one of the best cornerbacks in the league, Sauce Gardner. D.J. Reed is a solid cornerback who has been steady for the Jets over the past few seasons. The safeties are also good, with Chuck Clark and Tony Adams manning the two starting spots. It will be interesting to see which corners match up with which receivers. If Tennessee can get their tight ends involved, they will be all the more dangerous against a stout linebacker group featuring Quincy Williams and C.J. Mosely.
Weather Report
Sunday afternoon will likely be rainy as Nashville experiences the remnants of Hurricane Francine. The temperature will be in the mid-70s, and the chance of rain is 88%. The winds could be a factor, with the projected wind speed blowing at 8 miles per hour in an Easterly direction. Due to the weather, both teams will likely try to run the ball and play defense. There could be some delays, as there’s a chance of thunderstorms in the area.
Odds and Ends
The Titans lead the all-time series by a margin of 25-20-1 over the denizens of Gotham. The series was played yearly from 2006 to 2015 before rotating every three seasons. Since the turn of the century, Tennessee has lost seven of the 11 matchups. The Jets lead the scoring margin in that time frame with a 20.8 to 17.6 advantage. The average margin of victory in the last six games has been 10.8 points. The Jets have won three of the past five meetings. Robert Saleh is 1-0 against Tennessee in his Jets tenure.
Uniforms
Titans
🧊 BRITCHES REPORT 🧊: The @Titans will be decked out in all white — white jerseys, white britches and all white socks — in Sunday’s home opener vs the @nyjets. 🥶 pic.twitter.com/Bsdafy8e9Q
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) September 11, 2024
Referee Crew
Alan Eck is the referee for Sunday’s @Titans vs @nyjets game. 🦓
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) September 9, 2024
Alan Eck is the youngest head referee in the league. He is entering his second season in the role and has nine years of experience as an official. Mr. Eck has four officials on his staff with double-digit years of experience, including two with more than 20 years of service. However, the rest of his crew are relatively newcomers with less than five years of experience, including the umpire, line judge, and both replay officials. Eck was previously assigned to officiate at the Saints vs. Panthers game last week.
According to Football Zebras, Eck got the “golden ticket” promotion after never auditioning for the head job in various jobs. He was the replacement for the retired Jerome Boger. He gradually worked his way up to referee by starting as a side judge before working as an umpire.
His crew called the fewest total flags in the league last season with 179. The away team bore the brunt of his ire with 5.47 flags per game, while the home team averaged 4.93. They allowed a lot of contact between the skill positions, as only 12 defensive pass interference calls were made. The result was good for the third-fewest in the league in that category. This is good news for a physical Titans’ secondary who likes to play aggressively. The offensive lines won’t get away with as much, with 50 flags accepted for holding (24) and false starts (26). He was in charge of Titans games twice last season, with one each coming home and on the road. Tennessee was flagged a total of 12 times in those contests.
Betting
According to BetMGM, the Jets are favored by 3.5 points with the money line at -110, while the Titans are +3.5 dogs with the same money line. This is the second game in which the Titans are underdogs.
The total has been set at 40.5 points, with the money line favoring the Jets at -190, and the dog Titans are at a money line of +155. Both offenses must get back on track, so the over/under might be a bit low. The Jets have more talent than has been there before while Tennessee is breaking in a new coaching staff.
Main Image: Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK
