According to the NFL’s official player participation information, here’s how the Tennessee Titans lined up in yesterday’s 35-33 loss to the Indianapolis Colts:
Offense (82 total)
QB: Marcus Mariota 82
RB/FB: Dexter McCluster 36, Antonio Andrews 22, Jalston Fowler 19, Bishop Sankey 19
WR: Kendall Wright 61, Harry Douglas 35, Justin Hunter 35, Dorial Green-Beckham 14
TE: Anthony Fasano 46, Delanie Walker 43, Craig Stevens 42, Phillip Supernaw 10
OL: Byron Bell 82, Jeremiah Poutasi 82, Brian Schwenke 82, Taylor Lewan 80, Jamon Meredith 74, Andy Gallik 10
Other: Karl Klug 4
Defense (61 total)
DL: Jurrell Casey 50, DaQuan Jones 27, Karl Klug 22, Al Woods 20, Mike Martin 9, Angelo Blackson 8
OLB: Derrick Morgan 57, Brian Orakpo 53, Deiontrez Mount 10, David Bass 2
ILB: Zach Brown 53, Avery Williamson 53, Wesley Woodyard 10
CB: Coty Sensabaugh 61, Perrish Cox 53, Blidi Wreh-Wilson 48
S: Michael Griffin 61, Da’Norris Searcy 58, Marqueston Huff 8, Daimion Stafford 8
Beau Brinkley and Steven Johnson each only appeared on special teams. Zach Mettenberger, Ropati Pitoitua, and Quinton Spain were active but did not appear in the game.
News and notes:
1. Another game with a huge play disparity. The closest the Titans and their opponent have been in total number of snaps this season has been the Bucs game, where the difference was just 15. From the evaluation of player playing time, that game is useless because it was uncompetitive and backups for Tennessee on both offense and defense got a lot of work. Eventually, the Titans will have a game where they and their opponent both run 60 or 65 or 70 plays. Probably. Maybe. It’s not beyond the realm of possibility. (N.B. the 61 includes the Colts’ three kneeldowns at the end of the game; the count of what I think of as “real offensive plays” was 81 to 57).
2. This is the first time not in Week 2 Dexter McCluster led all Titans running backs in snaps; that he lined up in the slot some yesterday does not mean he is not a running back. That he had 5 carries for 7 yards (long 10) does suggest that what we saw from him as a runner against Cleveland last week might not be that sustainable.
3. Yes, this is still a running back committee. Fantasy football people who got freaked out by Bishop Sankey’s absence during the game should recognize there will be no guarantee of work on a regular basis, that Antonio Andrews will get some third down work, and Ken Whisenhunt cares even less about your fantasy football team than I do.
4. For the curious: the two-point conversions were counted as offensive snaps, not as special teams snaps. Colts punter Pat McAfee’s fourth down conversion run was counted as a special teams snap, not as a defensive snap. I concur with both of those decisions.
5. Same receiver rotation, roughly, as last week: a clear top two, a clear third, and a clear fourth. Dorial Green-Beckham had four targets on his fourteen snaps, from the Colts 2, 3, 7, and 21. I did not notice him on his 10 special teams snaps.
6. Through three weeks, Jeremiah Poutasi is the only offensive player who has played very snap. Coty Sensabaugh is the only defensive player who has played every snap. The nature of the Buccaneers game meant other players who you might have expected to play every snap instead got time off.
7. Last week the Browns didn’t play much three receiver and you saw DaQuan Jones and Al Woods get a fair amount of work. This week, Indianapolis spread the Titans out more and Karl Klug went from 10 snaps to 22. We’ll see how the defensive line mix changes when Sammie Hill comes back, assuming he does after the bye week.
8. Colts WR3 Andre Johnson 41 snaps, Titans CB3 Blidi Wreh-Wilson 48 snap. Close enough for me, especially considering Colts WR4 Phillip Dorsett had 15 snaps.
9. I know Perrish Cox returned quickly, but it seemed like Marqueston Huff played a pretty important 8 snaps.
10. That Zach Mettenberger did not play was no surprise. That Quinton Spain, active because of Chance Warmack’s injury, did not was no surprise either. But I don’t understand why you keep seven defensive linemen up when Mike Martin and Ropati Pitoitua play a combined 10 snaps, 9 on defense and 1 on special teams, all of that by Martin.
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