Tennessee Titans Offense Will Face Similar Schematic Challenge Against Chargers Defense

The Tennessee Titans saw consistent press-man coverage in their Week 1 loss to the New Orleans Saints and they should expect more of the same when they play the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.

The Tennessee Titans have had one of the least talented wide receiver groups in the NFL for a few years running now. Even when A.J. Brown was still on the team, the Titans didn't have the depth of talent you see from most NFL teams at receiver each week.

That lack of talent results in the Titans offense seeing a consistent defensive approach each week. Press-man coverage. Even teams that play primarily zone coverage have adjusted and played more man against the Titans. In Week 1, the Saints played 92.5% of their snaps in press coverage, the highest rate in the NFL.

I'm digging into Week 1 press coverage data and

l m a o

the Chargers really thought it'd be a good idea to press Tyreek 86% of the time. pic.twitter.com/V0euAdtKDB

— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) September 13, 2023

So, what is press coverage? It is when the defensive backs are nose-to-nose with the wide receivers on the line of scrimmage with the intent to put the hands on the receivers when the ball is snapped. This has the ability to disrupt the timing of certain plays and in some cases, prevent receivers from getting open at all.

Back to the Titans' receivers, they simply don't have quick enough players with advanced enough release packages to win consistently against press. That is why teams do it so often.

DeAndre Hopkins may be the best on the team, but Hopkins was never an incredibly explosive player who won with quickness. Now that he is in his 30s, Hopkins struggled to beat press against the Saints. Treylon Burks is only in his second year and developing his technique against press is a work in progress. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine is no where near talented enough to even expect for him to win against press.

What the Titans saw against the Saints will continue. They simply don't have the talent to beat it consistently and teams know it. The only answer is for offensive coordinator Tim Kelly to continue to get creative to create openings for his receivers if they can't create them on their own.

Kelly will need to do that quite a bit in Week 2. The Saints played the most press coverage in Week 1, but the team that played press the second-most, was the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers played press on 85.3% of snaps.

The Chargers did that against the Miami Dolphins. They employ Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, two of the fastest receivers in the NFL. If the Chargers are willing to press the fastest wide receivers in the NFL that often, you can bet your bottom dollar they will do the same or more against the Titans.

This will be a common theme all year long and has been for years now. The Titans didn't add any speed to the receiving group in the offseason so there is no magic bullet coming to save them any time soon. Kelly has his work cut out for him.

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