The Tennessee Titans (6-3) go on the road to Heinz Field for Week 11’s ‘Thursday Night Football’ against the Pittsburgh Steelers (7-2).
Despite being outscored on the season, Tennessee sits with a 6-3 record and leads the AFC South (tiebreaker due to their win over the Jacksonville Jaguars who are also 6-3). The Titans have won four in a row including last Sunday’s 24-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Likewise, the Steelers also have a nice-sized winning streak of four games entering Thursday’s matchup. In Week 10, they faced a scare from the Indianapolis Colts but pulled out the win by the score of 20-17.
Titans offense
Passing leader: Marcus Mariota 154-248 (62.1%), 1,783 yards, 8 TD, 7 INT
Rushing leader: DeMarco Murray 109 carries, 433 yards (4.0 y/c), 4 TD
Receiving leader: Richard Matthews 36 receptions, 513 yards, 2 TD
The Titans currently rank 13th in the NFL averaging 22.8 points per game. In their six wins, they are averaging 27.5 points but that number dips down to 13.3 in their three losses.
Marcus Mariota isn’t having quite as much success throwing the football as he did in his sophomore season of 2016. He had nearly a 3:1 passing touchdown to interception ratio last year with 26 and nine respectively. This season, his seven touchdowns and six interceptions barely give him over a 1:1 ratio.
His completion percentage is slightly up, but his yards per attempt have gone down.
Tennessee still has one of the better running attacks led by DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry (Mariota is more than capable of running as well). As a team, they are tied for second averaging 1.3 rushing touchdowns per game, eighth averaging 124.8 yards on the ground, and seventh averaging 4.4 yards per carry.
The Titans ran for 180 yards last week, good for their second-highest total this season.
Vs. Steelers defense
Tackles leader: Ryan Shazier 69
Sacks leader: Vince Williams, Cameron Heyward 5
Interceptions leader: Ryan Shazier 3
The Steelers’ defense has been superb all season. Their 16.4 points allowed per game are topped by only the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Pittsburgh has allowed more than 18 points only twice through nine games. They only allow more total yards than the Carolina Panthers as they give up an average of 284.4.
Defending the pass has been what the Steelers have excelled at the most this year. They have allowed over 223 passing yards only once all season, and their 181.1 yards allowed per game, through the air, ranks second. They get to the quarterback often as well with 29 sacks in nine games.
Other than two games where they gave up over 200 yards rushing to the Chicago Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars, Pittsburgh has been stout against the run as well. They have allowed exactly 71 yards rushing in each of the last three games and are allowing just 3.3 yards per carry in their last four.
Steelers offense
Passing leader: Ben Roethlisberger 187-306 (61.1%), 2,298 yards, 12 TD, 10 INT
Rushing leader: Le’Veon Bell 220 carries, 840 yards (3.8 y/c), 5 TD
Receiving leader: Antonio Brown 60 receptions, 882 yards, 3 TD
Despite a 7-2 start, the Steelers’ offense has yet to click on all cylinders as they are just one of five teams now to reach 30 points in any games. They have loads of talent on that side of the ball, but their 20.8 points per game ranks 19th out of 32 teams.
Much like Mariota, Ben Roethlisberger has seen a decline in his numbers from last season albeit at a more advanced age. His current completion percentage would be his lowest since 2008, and his interception rate is his highest since 2006.
The offensive line has done a great job protecting him though as he has been sacked just 11 times.
Le’Veon Bell has been a workhorse as he leads the NFL in both carries and rushing yards. After averaging 4.8 yards per carry over the previous three seasons, the 25-year-old is a full yard lower through nine games at 3.8.
Vs. Titans defense
Tackles leader: Wesley Woodyard 80
Sacks leader: Derrick Morgan 5
Interceptions leader: Kevin Byard 6
The Titans rank 22nd in the league giving up 23.7 points per game. More than a quarter of the points they allowed this season came in one game though when the Houston Texans put up 57 points on them in Week 4. During their current four-game win streak, their opponents are scoring an average of 17.8 points.
They have also forced seven turnovers in their last three outings.
During the win streak, Tennessee has allowed five touchdown passes while also intercepting five. That is a large improvement over the first five games when the Titans allowed 12 touchdown passes while intercepting four. Opponents are gaining about six yards per pass play this year which is right around league average. Safety Kevin Byard leads the NFL with six interceptions.
Much like Pittsburgh, the Titans possess an excellent run defense. They allow the sixth-least rushing yards per game (91.9) and the fourth-least yards per carry (3.6). They are allowing only 69.3 yards on the ground over the last four games, all of which have resulted in wins.
