It started ugly early and never really got that much better. The Eagles took the opening kickoff 107 yards for lead just 13 seconds into the game. Following a quick three-and-out, an efficient scoring drive made it 14-0 4:16 in. After four three-and-outs to start the game, the Titans would finally get the first of their chunk plays in the pass game following a Mark Sanchez interception. A Zach Mettenberger pass tipped by an underneath defender still made its way to Justin Hunter, and he found the end zone to cut it to 17-7. A 60-yard play to Delanie Walker (nice stiff-arm for plenty of extra yards made it 20-14) the next Tennessee possession. A couple 21-yard pass plays, to Walker and Nate Washington, made it 27-17 late in the first half. The Titans would not score again until Mettenberger found Dexter McCluster to make it 40-24 with just under six minutes to play.
Of the defense, they picked up right where they left off the previous game. Missed tackles, especially on third down short of the sticks, were a major issue. The best thing that can be said are (a) Mark Sanchez deigned to throw the ball directly to a defender twice, once to Brandon Ghee and the other time to Daimion Stafford, (b) they held the Eagles to six field goal attempts rather than letting them score touchdowns every possession, and (c) they actually did force one punt, after an offensive pass interference penalty erased a third down conversion, in the competitive portion of the game.
On the whole, though, a pretty dismal performance I don’t expect to find any solace in when I run stats for it later. Some losses, like last Monday’s, it’s worth luxuriating in some of the details of the performance. This game, I didn’t see any such silver lining in. Oh, and Taylor Lewan and Brian Schwenke both left the game in the fourth quarter with injuries, Lewan after his worst game of the season as part of a distinctly non-memorable performance for the offensive line as a whole. So, yeah. On to Houston.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
