Tennessee Titans: Offense shines in preseason win over Eagles

The Tennessee Titans won their first preseason game on Thursday night 27-10 over the Eagles in Philadelphia thanks to the second-half offense.

Thursday was a solid night for the Titans. We now have an idea of what the team will look like in four weeks when the season kicks off.

We got a chance to see Marcus Mariota play a little and connect with his wide receivers in a competitive game. I’m a little surprised they moved forward in playing Mariota, but if they think they need him to play, so he’s ready for the season, then I won’t argue.

It was a pretty close game overall until the fourth quarter when some of the younger guys on both teams started to get some snaps. Like I said in my post leading up to the game the Titans depth players were better than the Eagles’ and it showed on the field.

The offense looked pretty good throughout the game. Adam Humphries caught a deep pass from Mariota early in the game. Jeremy McNichols might have earned himself a roster spot after leading the team in rushing. And Ryan Tannehill proved he has what it takes to back up Mariota.

Although the offense showed out, we need to give credit to the defense too. They said forget the “bend not break” mantra we ain’t bending at all. They gave up just ten points in the first half and shut out the Eagles offense in the second half.

The Titans team performed really well on all sides of the ball on Thursday and impressed me and many others with their performance.

I knew the Titans had a good roster, but if their starters can play as the backups did in the second half, the Titans are going to be a playoff team.

A grey area for the Titans came on the first drive on offense. Mariota struggled to make the right reads and throws when he dropped back to pass. He missed multiple opportunities to connect with his receivers, which could be costly in a game.

It’s just one drive and the first of the season for Mariota, so I don’t think it’s anything to look into, but it will be something to look for when he takes the field next week.

And if Mariota can’t get the job done during the regular season, we very well could see Tannehill take over at quarterback which could very well end the Mariota Era in Nashville.

But that’s all far away from now (hopefully), and Thursday’s game needs to be used to focus on the many good things, not the few bad things.

All around an impressive performance by the Titans. They failed to make it a boring game which is always good for the fans and now we have some on-field action to talk about and break down.

The Titans now have a nice little break before taking on the Patriots next Saturday night at Nissan Stadium. That game will be another good test for the Titans to see where they’re at against one of the best teams in the league.