Titans Finally Put It All Together Against The Dolphins

Miami, Florida – After a tough loss at home to the Green Bay Packers last week, the Tennessee Titans dominated in South Beach against the Miami Dolphins, 31-12, to get their first win of the season.

 

Overview

The Titans seemed to have more of the same issues come up in the beginning of the game. Will Levis committed his ninth turnover of the season with an interception on the first drive. His night would end after sustaining a shoulder injury in the first quarter.

Mason Rudolph took over in the middle of the first quarter and never looked back. He led seven scoring drives, helping the Titans to their highest point total of the season, 31. Rudolph put up just 85 yards passing on 9-17 passing.

The offense was carried (no pun intended) by the run game by both Tyjae Spears and Tony Pollard. They combined for 127 yards on 37 carries and two touchdowns.

The Titans had a couple of injuries coming into this game. Star defensive tackle Jefferey Simmons was ruled out with an elbow injury and cornerback Chidobe Awuzie was lost to a hamstring injury in Week 3. That opened up the door for rookies T’Vondre Sweat and Jarvis Brownlee Jr. to play meaningful snaps in a pivotal game.

Both played well, helping the defense hold the Dolphins to just 184 total yards. Sweat lived in the Dolphins’ backfield, making play-after-play for this defense.

 

Positives:

Tennessee scored 30 points for the first time in almost two calendar years after scoring 31 points tonight.  The Titans broke a streak of 38 games without scoring 30 points or more. The offense put up 244 total yards with 142 yards coming on the ground.

The red zone offense was a bright spot as they were 2-3 in goal-to-go and red zone opportunities.

Defensively, they were ravenous, getting after the Dolphins all night long. They held Miami to just 96 yards through the air and 106 yards rushing. They also forced a turnover, their first of the season.

The defense was led by rookie defensive lineman, T’Vondre Sweat, who had his best game as a pro, notching three tackles and basically living in the offensive backfield.

 

Negatives:

The team had eight penalties for 69 yards. Penalties have been an ongoing issue for Tennessee this season.

Tennessee’s offense didn’t do well converting on third down, only excuting on 33% of their attempts.

 

What’s Next

The Titans will now go into the bye week and get a chance to regroup before returning home to face the Indianapolis Colts in their first AFC South matchup.