Tennessee Titans Have Ingredients To Shock A.J. Brown And Philadelphia Eagles

A.J. Brown’s reunion with the Tennessee Titans is one of many compelling storylines on the docket for Week 13 as the Philadelphia Eagles look to take another step towards securing the number one seed in the NFC.

Brown has already stated that he feels like “he won” following the draft-day trade that sent him from the Titans to the Eagles, though he was referring more to his personal circumstances having subsequently signed a four-year, $100 million with Philadelphia.

The Pro Bowl wide receiver has an excellent chance of being part of a Super Bowl team with the Eagles sitting 10-1 and firmly in command of the race for the first-round bye on the NFC side, however, his former team may be ideally suited to dealing their hopes a blow.

While quarterback Jalen Hurts has showed continued development as a passer, the aspect of his play that makes the Eagles’ offense so difficult to stop is what he can do running the ball.

In that sense, the Titans do match up well with Eagles, as Tennessee enters Week 13 ranked second in the NFL on defense in rush EPA per play, per rbsdm.com.

That does not mean Hurts cannot be successful against the Titans’ defense. The Week 9 overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs was one in which the Titans were undone by a series of backbreaking scrambles by Patrick Mahomes, and Hurts has the ability to hurt them more consistently with his legs than the Chiefs’ quarterback.

Yet if the Titans can at least have some joy containing Hurts, then their offense has an edge that could tilt the contest in their favour.

In stark contrast to the Titans, the Eagles rank 29th in rush EPA on defense, allowing 4.68 yards per rush, the 10th-most in the NFL.

Put simply, though the Philadelphia defense is a strength of the team, a matchup with the Eagles rush defense is one a Tennessee offense built around the devastating running ability of Derrick Henry should relish.

While they no longer have Brown to take advantage of the play-action opportunities Henry’s runs help make more effective, the Titans should still be able to find success on such passes, the Eagles having struggled to defend the middle of the field at times during last week’s shootout with the Green Bay Packers.

Through smart acquisitions like the trade for Brown, the talent edge is heavily in the Eagles’ favor. Yet the Titans have frequently overcome having inferior talent under head coach Mike Vrabel, and it would be no surprise if they found a way to maximize the advantages they do have to pull off an upset at Lincoln Financial Field.