Unpacking Tennessee Titans' woes in blowout loss vs. A.J. Brown, Philadelphia Eagles
PHILADELPHIA — The Tennessee Titans looked overmatched in just about every phase playing the team with the NFL's best record.
The Titans lost 35-10 versus the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, surrendering nearly 400 passing yards while struggling to run or throw the ball. Philadelphia's defensive line and receivers dominated, and quarterback Jalen Hurts continued his pursuit of the MVP with four total touchdowns and zero turnovers.
Injuries played a big factor in the Titans' loss, but not a big enough one that the outcome felt incorrect.
WHAT THEY SAID:A.J. Brown on facing Tennessee Titans: 'Today, I'm gonna have to give you this whooping'
ESTES:It wasn't just the Eagles' A.J. Brown who spanked the Tennessee Titans on Sunday
RECAP:Tennessee Titans bullied by A.J. Brown, lose 35-10 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Here are The Tennessean's grades for the Titans' performance against the Eagles.
Offense: D+
Everything changed when rookie receiver Treylon Burks was injured in the first quarter. The Titans were moving the ball before his injury, but after he left the game on a touchdown catch, the Eagles sold out to take away Derrick Henry and the running game while swarming quarterback Ryan Tannehill on passing downs. It was an ugly performance across the board.
Defense: D
Philadelphia receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith both broke the 100-yard mark. Hurts completed passes to nine targets, completing 74% of his passes. Playing without cornerback Kristian Fulton and linebacker David Long made things tricky, but the Eagles came out with no intentions of running the ball. The Titans' defense didn't do a good job of reacting to this game plan in the worst defensive showing since the Week 2 loss in Buffalo.
Special teams: C+
Punter Ryan Stonehouse had another good day, but it's always bittersweet for a team when a punter is the main standout. Still, his long punts weren't covered particularly well, as the Eagles had more than 100 punt returning yards.
Coaching: C-
The offense didn't do anything new, setting up obvious passing downs with short runs on early downs and putting Tannehill under immense pressure. It's hard for this offense to do much when Henry isn't producing and the Titans are only three-deep at receiver, but the offense looked stale. The defense had no adjustments for the Eagles' pass-first approach, losing one-on-one matchups across the secondary from the first quarter on.
Overall: D
D for dud. The Titans had a chance to make a statement against one of the NFL's best teams. Instead, they got blown out just like they were in Buffalo early in the season. This wasn't an easy game to project confidence forward for the rest of the season.
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on Twitter @nicksuss.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Grading Tennessee Titans' ugly, blowout loss at Philadelphia Eagles
