Jaguars vs. Titans: Why Stopping the Run Will Decide Who Wins or Goes Home

Against a Titans team riddled with injuries, the threat of Derrick Henry on the ground still looms.

The Tennessee Titans offense will have a different look behind center on Sunday. In his second start with the team, Joshua Dobbs will be tasked with stopping a freefall and preventing their season from ending. 

Despite the inexperience behind center and injuries on the defensive side of the ball, one constant remained: superstar running back Derrick Henry.

The shelf life of a running back is often a short one, but Henry continues to defy the odds. In his age 29 campaign, Henry has amassed 1,429 rushing yards on 319 carries with 13 touchdowns and continues to carry a heavy load for a run-centric Titans squad. 

In their Week 14 matchup, Henry dominated the Jaguars' defense to the tune of 121 yards on 17 carries with a touchdown and will be called upon again to build on that performance. Jaguars defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell made clear that the resilience of the defensive line will be of the utmost importance.

“Definitely,” Caldwell said when asked about the importance of the defensive line when playing the Titans. “In this division, you’ve got the Colts that run the ball well, you’ve got the Texans that run the ball well, and Tennessee runs the ball well. We’ve got some big guys up front, and they know in our division, you’re going to have to stand up front.”

In their last encounter, the Jaguars did an excellent job of stopping the run after the first half. These adjustments were crucial to a dominating 36-22 victory that kickstarted their stretch run. For the Jaguars' defense, carrying over that momentum will be an area of focus in preparation for the most crucial point of their season.

“You go back and you look at it, and you understand that when it didn’t work in the first half, the mistakes you made, you correct those, and you go out and just trust your technique,” Caldwell said. “You go out there and understand you’re supposed to be in a gap, it’s your job to get in the gap. Understand your technique, get in the gap, and when you get there, everybody in their gaps, and the defense will be successful.”

The final component to stopping the Titans' potent run game is game planning for the possibility of quarterbacks using their legs. Like rookie Malik Willis, Joshua Dobbs possesses above-average mobility for a quarterback and will be a threat to run if the pocket collapses. For defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell, game planning for a multi-dimensional running attack will be the difference maker in a win-or-go-home situation.

“You go back and you look at it, and Tannehill, former receiver in college, he’s a mobile quarterback,” Caldwell said. 

“All three of them are mobile quarterbacks, so the same element of quarterback run game, you have to be prepared for. You just go back and you look, arm strength, Tannehill has it, Malik (Willis) has it, Dobbs has it. They’re NFL quarterbacks, and you just have to understand that they can make all the NFL throws, and they can hurt you with their legs. We understand that and just have to have a good plan for it.”