December 19, 2018 – Leader of the Pack Sports

Written by: Conner Pack

In what was a rainy and overall very nasty day, the Tennessee Titans went to Met Life stadium and came away with a dominating 17-0 win over the New York Giants, keeping pace with the Ravens and Colts for the final wild card spot in the AFC playoffs. Entering Sunday’s game, the Titans, Colts, Dolphins, and Ravens all had a 7-6 record, but unfortunately the Titans don’t hold any tie-breakers so down the stretch virtually every game is a must win game for them. One positive other than the Titans win was that that the Dolphins did lose and have fallen to 7-7.

The Titans game plan in Sunday’s win was simple, give Derrick Henry the ball and let him make plays. Defensively it was get after Eli Manning, swarm to the ball, and not allow the Giants talented group of skill players get lose.

– Derrick Henry Breaks His Follow Up Performance Let Downs

From the start, both by design and due to the weather, the Titans were all in on running the football. Of their 67 offensive plays, 45 were running plays and 21 were passing. Derrick Henry carried the ball 33 times for 170-yards and 2 touchdowns, while Lewis carried the ball just 7 times for 35-yards. Since the Titans bye week Henry has gradually become the focal point of their offense, especially over the last two games as Henry has rushed for 408-yards and 6 touchdowns. Over this seven game span Henry has scored 10 touchdowns, averaged 13.4 carries for 87-yards, and had an average of 5.9 yards a carry.

This re-energized Derrick Henry sure has been fun to watch. However, it hasn’t just been Henry, the Titans offensive line has also been much better as of late. Prior to his recent success, Henry had a tendency to do too much dancing in the backfield and didn’t hit holes with speed and power. Granted the holes and creases weren’t that great, but more often than not Henry was getting hit in the backfield or being met at the line of scrimmage. Where as now Henry is hitting the holes hard and then bouncing things to the outside once he gets to the second level. Now, at times there hasn’t been much room to run for Henry and we’ve begun to see his patience and vision begin to shine as well.

Whatever wake up call he got it has definitely worked.

– Dominating Defensive Performance

It had been nearly eighteen years since the Tennessee Titans had last registered a shut (December 25, 2000 against the Dallas Cowboys). The weather I believe played somewhat of a factor in the lack of offensive success the Giants had, but the Titans defense was absolutely smothering as they kept dynamic rookie running back Saquon Barkley contained, forced Eli to turn the ball over, and simply never allowed them to get going or make any game changing plays.

First, going into Sunday’s game the Titans knew stopping Saquon Barkley was objective number one if they wanted to win. Over the Giants last four games, Barkley had been on a tear as he was averaging 134-yards, averaged 7.5-yards a carry, and scored 6 total touchdowns. Sunday though, Barkely had probably his worst game as pro as he rushed for just 31-yards on 14 attempts and caught 4 passes for 25-yards, this was Barkley’s lowest combined yard total of the season. The Titans did an excellent job of containing Barkley and not allowing him to break loose, they used a swarming mentality and game plan to shut down one of the most dynamic and elusive young backs in the NFL.

Second, Eli Manning throughout the season has virtually been a shell of what he used to be. He still can play I believe, but something hasn’t been right over the last two years in New York. Now, throughout Manning’s career, especially now, if an opposing defense was able to put enough pressure on him he was bound to take a sack, turn the ball over, or even simply just throw a bad un-catchable pass to his receiver. Sunday, he did just that as the Titans defense sacked Manning three times, forced him to turn the ball over twice, and held him to just a 47.7 completion percentage. To be fair though, the Giants wide receivers did drop quite a few balls.

Third, the Titans forced numerous three and outs and never allowed the Giants to ever convert on big plays downfield. Coming into Sunday’s game, the Giants offense had been averaging 31.4 points per game over their last five games, a stretch in which the Giants went 4-1. On Sunday, they were held scoreless at home for the first time since December 15, 2013 when the Seahawks beat them 23-0. Of the Giants ten possessions on Sunday, five were three and outs, two ended due to turnovers, one ended due to turnover on downs, and the rest were punts.

To put things in perspective, the Giants longest play from scrimmage came early in the second half when Eli threw a 38-yard pass to wide receiver Sterling Shepard.

– Final Thoughts

With Sunday’s win, the Titans have now won three games in a row and are playing some of their best football. Their defense has been very good, they’re finally able to consistently run the ball, and they have a quarterback that can make plays late in games. And for the third straight year the Titans are once again in a position to make the playoffs.