Skip to main content

Countdown to Kickoff: Eagles vs. Titans

The two teams lead their respective divisions and are hoping to take a step toward securing their conference's top seed for the playoffs

PHILADELPHIA - Sunday will mark the final time that the city of Philadelphia will see its Eagles live in 2022.

A three-game road stretch will follow the Week 13 matchup against Tennessee, meaning the 10-1 Eagles won’t be back at Lincoln Financial Field until Jan. 1, 2023, against the New Orleans Saints.

In the meantime, the four-game run from now until the new year, which features visits to the New York Giants, Chicago, and Dallas after Sunday’s game vs. the Titans, will likely define whether or not the road to Super Bowl LVII will go through Lincoln Financial Field.

As usual, the Eagles are the favorites but the number has been dropping during the week as the tough and physical Titans figure to be one of the toughest matches for Nick Sirianni's team to date.

5...PLAYERS TO WATCH

Eagles RB Miles Sanders - Sanders is having a career year with 900 yards (fifth in the NFL), and eight TDs (sixth). His seven rushes of 20-or-more yards trail only Cleveland’s Nick Chubb and Sanders is coming off a career-high 143-yard performance against Green Bay.

Eagles RT Lane Johnson - Johnson has not been credited with allowing a sack since Week 11 of the 2020 season and has not even allowed a QB hit since Week 7 of 2021. He leads all NFL OTs with a 0.1 knockdown percentage since the start of the 2021 season. Johnson is the best player on perhaps the best positional unit in the NFL.

Titans S Kevin Byard - The Philadelphia-born safety has been one of the NFL’s better back-end defenders for years since arriving as a third-round pick in 2016. He ranked third in the NFL from 2017-21 with 23 total interceptions and his five interceptions in 2021 helped him earn All-Pro honors for the first time. 

This season, Byard, who went to college at Middle Tennessee State, the same school as Eagles’ undrafted rookie S Reed Blankenship, has 73 tackles and an interception as the leader of the back seven for Tennessee.

Titans DL Jeffrey Simmons - Though listed as questionable for the game, Simmons is Tennessee’s best player and one of the top defensive linemen in the NFL, grading out as No. 5 of the 125 interior linemen graded by Pro Football Focus this season. He made his first Pro Bowl in 2021 after setting career highs in, tackles (54), sacks (8.5), and passes defended (six). He has 6.5 sacks this season, eight tackles for loss, and 32 QB pressures.

Titans RB Derrick Henry - A former Heisman winner and two-time NFL rushing champion (2019-20) no RB had more rushing yards (6,307) or rushing touchdowns (60) from 2017 to 2021 than Henry. The most physical back in football, Henry is already over 1,000 again (1,048) with 10 touchdowns this season.

4...MATCHUPS TO WATCH

Titans’ third-down defense vs. Eagles’ third-down offense - If you’re looking for the strength vs. strength matchup in this game, this is it. The Tennessee defense is the best third-down unit in the NFL, allowing just a 30.7 conversion rate while the Eagles’ offense is No. 3 in the league when it comes to extending drives with a 47.2 conversion rate.

Titans’ pass defense vs. A.J. Brown - Brown is obviously hyped up to remind his old team what it's missing and this should be a perfect opportunity for the Eagles’ star receiver to get back on track. The Tennessee defense is 31 of 32 in the NFL, allowing 266.7 passing yards per game.

Titans’ red-zone offense vs, Eagles’ LB red-zone defense - The Tennessee offense isn’t that explosive ranking 29th in the NFL overall but the Titans are very good in the red zone at No. 5 overall. Good red-zone teams typically run the football well as evidenced by the Eagles’ No. 1 standing. Henry makes Tennessee difficult to deal with in close quarters because he can move the pile.

Titans’ TE Austin Hooper vs. Eagles’ S Reed Blankenship - The Titans typically don’t scare anyone throwing the football but the savvy Hooper might be an issue without veteran Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, who is out with a lacerated kidney. Blankenship could be the player Tennessee offensive coordinator Todd Downing circles.

3... THINGS TO KNOW

-The Titans enter the week with a streak of eight consecutive games allowing 20 points or less. It is the longest active streak in the NFL and the franchise's longest such streak within a season since 1993 (11 games).

-The Eagles have won the turnover battle nine times (+1 or better) this season, which leads the league.

-The Eagles rank second in the NFL in points off takeaways with 73.

2... X-FACTORS

For the Titans: WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine - Westbrook-Ikhine is Tennessee’s version of Quez Watkins. He doesn’t get a lot of traffic but when he does get the football it’s usually after he’s running past the defense. The former undrafted free agent averages over 19.0 yards per reception.

For the Eagles: NT Jordan Davis - The bet here is the big man will be back after missing the past four games with a high-ankle sprain. Davis has looked ready to go in the short windows open at practice and the rookie noted he lost 20 pounds during his rehab as he used the time to further work on his conditioning. A top-tier run stuffer Davis will be very valuable against Henry and the Titans.

1... PREDICTIONS

John McMullen (10-1, 3-8 vs. the spread) - Typically the first two words you hear when it comes to a Mike Vrabel Titans team are tough and physical and this 2022 group is no different. An almost sure bet to win a bad AFC South at 7-4, the Titans are coming off a disappointing home loss to Cincinnati, the same team that knocked them out of the postseason last year as a No. 1 seed.

That could manifest itself into an ill-tempered tough and physical team that arrives in Philadelphia this weekend. The most obvious narrative is A.J. Brown going for revenge against the team that drafted and developed him before deciding he wasn't with the $100 million extension that the Eagles gave him after sending significant draft capital to Tennessee on draft night.

The real demarcation line of this game, though, should be third downs. Manageable situations will likely define things and Philadelphia might have to rely on the passing game this week after ringing up the most rushing yards since 1948 with 363 against Green Bay. Tennessee is great stopping the run, though, but struggles with the pass, setting up Brown to prove his feeling that he won in his exit from Nashville.

For the first time this season, though, I'm going off the reservation and picking the Eagles to lose a game.

TITANS 24, EAGLES 23

Ed Kracz (9-2, 6-5 vs. the spread)

Can't pick the Eagles to win every week, can I? I haven't, hence the two losses. This feels like a loss with a rebound win next week in New York. That's what it feels like, but I'm not going there.

The Titans aren't very good at defending the pass and A.J. Brown will have a field day. The defense will do an adequate job on Henry, especially after hearing all week about how unstoppable he is, even though the Bengals held him to 38 yards last week.

EAGLES 23, TITANS 20

--John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen