The inactives are out for today’s game at the Mercedes Benz Superdome as the Tennessee Titans face the New Orleans Saints in Mike Mularkey’s first game as interim head coach, and here they are:
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS: LB Dannell Ellerbe, DT Kaleb Eulls, OT Tony Hills, LB Ramon Humber, LB Hau’oli Kikaha, QB Luke McCown, CB Damian Swann
TENNESSEE TITANS: DE Mike Martin, CB Jason McCourty, DE Ropati Pitoitua, G Quinton Spain, QB Charlie Whitehurst, CB Blidi Wreh-Wilson, WR Kendall Wright
No big surprises for the Titans. I thought Mike Martin might be up today, given one of the keys to today’s game in my view is interior penetration, but Sean Payton will also run the ball if you overload on pass rushers and the cornerback injuries meant they were limited in how many bodies they could use elsewhere. The Titans will have to get quality snaps from probably both of Cody Riggs and B.W. Webb today, and I hope they do get them.
The Saints have some banged up linebackers, with starters Ellerbe and Kikaha down. That could be even better news for Delanie Walker and what might be a tight end-heavy gameplan. The Saints are 32nd in DVOA (I write for FO perma-disclaimer), so this was already a very intriguing matchup. I wrote after Whisenhunt was fired I thought the Titans might use some more tight ends and fewer wide receivers, especially this week. Harry Douglas returned, so the state of the receiving corps isn’t quite as parlous as it was at the end of last Sunday’s game, but I still like the tight ends more than I like the wide receivers.
Defensively, tackle well in space and Jurrell Casey is the key to the game. One of the reasons Drew Brees put up Star Wars numbers last week was the Giants didn’t have much of a pass rush, especially on the interior. Brees is extremely good at navigating the pocket, but he’s still short and works best when he can work the middle of the pocket to see the field and find the proper throwing lane and angle. But if you’ve watched the Saints in the past eight or so years, I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know for yourself. Another matchup: the Titans’ linebackers in space against Mark Ingram, C.J. Spiller, and company. They all catch a ton of passes, and are part of the horizontal stretch component. To mention something not from the past eight years, (a) Ingram is actually a good receiving back now, and (b) the Titans are #1 in DVOA covering passes to running backs. If I were blogging with my usual energy, I would have written more about that already, and just how “true” it is, but it’s out there and this week will be a good challenge of their true skill level at it. Or the cornerbacks could stink and get feasted on enough that the running backs are a total non-factor.
The line is the Saints by about a touchdown (6.5 as of when I checked 30 minutes ago). That may seem like a high number based on last week’s 52-point effort by New Orleans versus the Titans’ recent offensive struggles. But I think it’s about right. The cornerback injuries are awful, but the other matchups on defense aren’t as bad for the Titans and Marcus Mariota’s return should mean a lot for the offense. I know, Mike Mularkey is 3-20 in his last 23 games as a head coach, just like Ken Whisenhunt was. I’m still expecting a good performance from the Titans today, and I think there’s a good chance we get it.
Thoughts on Twitter during the game, recap here after it, snap report Monday, and actually firing Whisenhunt plus that it’s the midpoint of the season means I’ll be writing something this week. Really. Or at least I’m really pretending like I will.
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