Five Takeaways From Loss to Eagles

Remember Derrick Henry and the run game? Why the Washington Commanders matter, concerns for Ryan Tannehill's health and more.

Eric Hartline / USA Today Sports

The Tennessee Titans will come stumbling back to Nashville following their 35-10 thumping at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

A game between two division-leading teams rarely looked competitive, as a Titans team that hadn’t surrendered over 20 points in eight straight weeks gave up three touchdowns in the first half alone.

One of many sets of numbers that revealed the disparity: Both teams had 11 drives, but the Eagles produced 453 yards, 26 first downs and 35 points, compared to 209 yards, 11 first downs and one touchdown for Tennessee.

When the Titans face the Jacksonville Jaguars at Nissan Stadium next Sunday, they’ll be seeking to avoid their first three-game losing streak since Oct. of 2018 – in Mike Vrabel’s first year as head coach.

"You face adversity and you find a way to stick together and push through and find a way to win," quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. "When you have seen it before, you believe you can do it again.

"... I know we have a division game at home this week. It is going to be a big one and we need to go and find a way to win.”

Here are five Titans takeaways from Sunday's loss to the Eagles:

Burks, McCreary, Petit-Frere, Philips and a lot of cap space really need to pan out

George Walker IV / Tennessean.com / USA Today Network

When the Titans traded away Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Brown, as well as the 26th overall pick in the 2022 draft, that’s the return they got after the various deals were totaled: wide receiver Treylon Burks, cornerback Roger McCreary, right tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere, wide receiver Kyle Philips and a lot less payroll over the next few years.

Somehow I’m guessing that most Titans fans – especially after seeing Brown dismantle his former team on Sunday – would take Brown and pick No. 26 as opposed to the package the Titans gained.

Were there legitimate reasons for choosing to trade Brown to the Eagles? Sure. The Titans were looking at cap issues in future years, Brown wanted his big money right away, and he broke off communications with the team leading up to the trade – making his desire to move on clear.

But isn’t it also the job of the general manager, in this case Jon Robinson, to still find some way to get a deal done – especially when the player is still under contract – if that player is deemed valuable enough?

Sunday, Brown piled up eight catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns. In celebrating one of his touchdowns, he took out a towel and whipped a goalpost, then hugged it – simulating his feelings for the Titans.

“Today, I’m going to have to give you this whooping. But I still love you, though,” Brown explained afterward.

So far this season, Brown has 25 catches of 15-plus yards and nine touchdowns, per Next Gen Stats. All the Titans wide receivers combined have 27 catches of 15-plus yards and four touchdowns.

The Titans better hope they eventually see tremendous dividends from the players – and from the payroll space – they gained by trading Brown.

Because right now Brown and the Eagles are winning, winning, winning in that deal.

The run game is dead (RIP)

Eric Hartline / USA Today Sports

Remember when Derrick Henry and the run game looked unstoppable? It wasn’t all that long ago. Henry topped 100 yards in five straight games against the Colts (twice), Commanders, Texans and Chiefs. In that contest at Houston, Henry ran 32 times for 219 yards and two touchdown and looked as dominant as he’d ever been.

Since then? The run game has, for the most part, gone absolutely nowhere. The Titans have averaged 2.7 yards, 2.8 yards, 3.0 yards and 4.1 yards per rush in the last four games, respectively. Henry, who carried 11 times for 30 yards (2.7 yards) against the Eagles, has been held under 100 yards in each of those contests – his longest such stretch in one season since 2019.

It’s not just that Henry has been held under 100 yards, of course. It’s that he hasn’t come close to breaking anything resembling a big run during that stretch. In fact, Henry has been held without a single carry of more than 10 yards in a month.

The Titans hoped that the return of starting center Ben Jones – after missing the last two games with a concussion – would help return productivity in the running attack. That did not happen.

“You know how much pride we have in the run game and I don’t feel like we’re doing our best to have success,” Henry said. “We just got to get better. It sounds like a broken record, but that’s what it is. We still … have five games left, and it’s time to focus on getting better. Like I said, I hold myself accountable for getting better, and (have to do) the best I can.”

The offensive line might get Tannehill killed

George Walker IV / Tennessean.com / USA Today Network

It’s easy to question why the Titans have done all they can to stick to the run game, even when it hasn’t been very productive – and even when the team is down by multiple scores.

But part of the issue is that Tannehill’s life appears to be at risk every time he drops back to pass these days.

The Eagles sacked Tannehill six times and hit him on nine occasions despite the fact that he looked a good bit more mobile than in his previous three games since returning from an ankle injury.

After one painful series, Tannehill was shown getting his left ankle heavily taped. That’s especially concerning, considering the injury that sidelined Tannehill previously was a right ankle injury.

Everyone got into the act for the Titans’ offensive line when it came to surrendering pressure. It appeared that left tackle Dennis Daley, left guard Aaron Brewer, right guard Nate Davis and right tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere were directly responsible for sacks. One could argue that it was a toss-up as to which tackle – Daley or Petit-Frere – allowed more Eagles rushers to fly toward the quarterback.

“You have to understand how critical is to protect your quarterback,” Vrabel said. “When your quarterback gets hit, nothing good can come of it.

“But we also have to get open. … There were times when we had some protection, and the protection was good. But then when you get down and behind late in the game, and it becomes a dropback game, that’s not where you want to live against a team that has some of the rushers that they do.”

The Titans should be rooting for Commanders

George Walker IV / Tennessean.com / USA Today Network

The Washington Commanders had another solid showing on Sunday, holding the NFC-East leading New York Giants to a 20-20 tie on the road.

Who cares?

Well, the Commanders (7-5-1) remain the only team with a winning record the Titans have defeated this year. Even that note seems a little deceptive, as Washington was 1-3 when the Titans won way back in Week 5. But right now, beating Washington is these Titans’ biggest claim to fame.

The other teams with winning records the Titans have faced this year? The Bills beat the Titans 41-7, the Chiefs downed the Titans 20-17 in overtime, the Bengals beat the Titans 20-16 and the Eagles blasted Tennessee.

Before Sunday, one could argue the Titans’ last two games against teams with winning records – against Kansas City and Cincinnati – showed that Tennessee was just a play or two away from beating those opponents.

Against the Eagles (11-1), it was a whole different story.

The good news is the Titans face only one more team that currently has a winning record (Dallas).

But even if the Titans whip up on the likes of Houston and Jacksonville down the stretch, what will that really prove?

More key injuries

George Walker IV / Tennessean.com / USA Today Network

A Titans team that began the game without one of its best players, defensive lineman Denico Autry, lost three more key players along the way.

Wide receiver Treylon Burks (concussion protocol), cornerback Kristian Fulton (groin) and linebacker David Long (hamstring) all left in the first half and did not return.

Any injury hurts, but … wow.

Burks literally had caught the first touchdown pass of his career – and had been piling up yardage in his last three games – when he took a wicked illegal hit from Eagles defensive back Marcus Epps in the end zone. He finished the game with just the one catch, but that still gives him receptions of 51, 43, 51 and 25 yards in the last three contests.

Fulton is the Titans’ top cornerback, and his absence Sunday was felt that much more following injuries to Elijah Molden (groin) and Caleb Farley (season-ending torn ACL).

Long has been a demon against the run for the Titans, and he entered the game as the team’s leading tackler with 85.

We should also point out that defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons, who has been playing on an injured ankle for the past three weeks (after sitting out one game) hardly looks like the player who’s dominated inside for the Titans during his career. Simmons had one tackle, one pass defensed and zero sacks, and he’s totaled 10 tackles and one sack in the three games since coming back from injury.