Dallas was the tune up. Tennessee will be the unleashing
The Texans are riding high after a late-game trouncing of the debilitated Dallas Cowboys. Next on the list is a depraved 2-8 Tennessee Titans team. The Titans are a shell of themselves in their first season after firing coach Mike Vrabel and paying top dollar for several elite free agents. Their greatest defensive weakness is a porous secondary.
The Titans actually have allowed the LEAST passing yards per game in the league, but it’s a lack of opposing teams truly needing to test the weak secondary rather than a quality defensive effort on Tennessee’s part.
According to PFF’s Matchup Stats, Nico Collins will have the fourth best matchup advantage against the Tennessee Titans defense in Week 11. He trails Philadelphia’s A.J. Brown against the Los Angeles Rams, Josh Downs against the Detroit Lions, and Jauan Jennings against Green Bay.
In particular, PFF identifies CB Jarvis Brownlee Jr. as the vulnerability within the Titans coverage. Since Week Seven, Brownlee Jr.’s PFF Coverage grade has yet to eclipse 60, which is aggressively poor. He was particularly picked on by Amari Cooper when he made the transition over to Buffalo. Brownlee allowed seven receptions for a demoralizing 175 yards and a TD to the Bills receivers. Brownlee is primarily a wide cornerback and will require oversight from safety Amani Hooker to keep a lid on Collins. Hooker accounts for the Titans sole three interceptions on the season. He’s playing valiantly despite a deteriorating cast around him.
It doesn’t help that Titans marquee free agent acquisition L’Jarius Sneed will be out with a quad injury suffered back in mid-October. That’s six games without Sneed and the Titans have only won one so far.
To add to the heap, their other starting CB Chidobe Awuzie is also out for two-to-three more weeks with a groin issue.
Those two injuries leaves rookie fifth round pick Jarvis Brownlee Jr. against Nico Collins. Collins lines up on the left side of the offense 42% of the time, this will place him in directly in the crosshairs of Brownlee for a large portion of the contest. Just as the Texans looked to get Collins in the fray against the Cowboys early, expect Collins to light up the scoreboard and occupy a significant target share heading into this AFC South matchup.
The poor lads over at our sister site Music City Miracles are already running mock drafts... that’s 155 days away. Oh boy....
