Game Preview, Week 5: Tennessee at Washington
October 7, 2022
by Steve Thomas
Well, that was fun, wasn’t it? Last week, Washington went down in flames to a more talented and better coached Dallas Cowboys team. Whether Washington can turn things around and rise up from the bottom feeder tier into the regular, lower-end tier remains to be seen. Life does get a bit easier in week 5, as the Tennessee Titans come to town for Washington’s second inter-conference battle of the season. This game could be much more of an even-handed battle than the NFC East battles of the last two weeks. Can they actually win, though? Stayed tuned, and we’ll all find out on Sunday.
Game time & location: Sunday, October 9, 2022, 1:00 p.m. ET, Fed Ex Field, Raljon, Maryland; Gates open 11:00 a.m. ET; Red Zone parking lots open 8:00 a.m.; all other parking lots 9:00 a.m.
Television: CBS
Television announcers: Andrew Catalon (play-by-play), James Lofton (analyst)
TV broadcast map: click here
DC-area radio: Big 100 (WBIG-FM)
Washington radio network: click here
Titans radio network: click here
Satellite radio: SiriusXM: 233 Sirius (Wash. broad.); internet: 831 (Wash. broad.)
Washington roster: click here
Washington depth chart: click here
Titans roster: click here
Titans depth chart: click here
All-time head-to-head record vs Titans: 6 – 7 – 0 (last 5: 3 – 2; streak: 0 – 1)
Last meeting: L, December 22, 2018, 16 – 25
Early odds: Titans, -2.5
3 KEYS TO THE GAME
Keep Derrick Henry in check
Henry is probably the best running back in the NFL and a probable future hall of famer. Washington’s defense should justifiably be worried and focus their efforts on him. However, this season, he’s been a bit off his game, only averaging 4.0 yards per carry on 76 carries in 4 games. That’s not awful, but it isn’t even above-average, let alone up to Henry’s lofty standards. Nonetheless, a major key to the game for Washington is to ensure that Henry doesn’t mysteriously get right and take over the game for the Titans.
Washington’s offensive line needs to be better than total garbage in pass pro
Quite a bit has been made about the poor performance of Washington’s offensive line this season, particularly in the past two weeks, and with good reason. They’ve been terrible in pass protection, and not totally great in run protection. To be fair, Washington has faced perhaps the two best pass rushing defenses in the league over the past two weeks. Tennessee doesn’t appear to be anywhere near that level, so it’s possible that the offensive line has a resurgence of sorts this week. Regardless, Washington simply has zero chance to win if things don’t improve. We’ll probably have a good idea about this group early in the game.
Carson Wentz must play well
Wentz is the type of quarterback who can do well if he has time to operate, but also does badly when he doesn’t have protection. Wentz played fairly well in the first two games, especially when he was under less stress in week 1. Washington needs Wentz to find a way against a team that’s far more vulnerable that either Dallas or Philadelphia. I’m looking for a completion percentage in the 65% range, 250+ passing yards, and a couple of touchdowns. If that happens, Washington has a good shot at a victory.
3 KEY MATCHUPS
William Jackson III vs. Robert Woods
Tennessee’s best receiver, Treylon Burks, has turf toe and will most likely not play this week. Enter Robert Woods, who’s actually outproduced Burks so far this year. Frankly, Jackson has been mostly terrible so far in 2022. He needs to both massively improve his coverage skills and stop committing penalties. Watch out for how open Woods gets in this game.
Terry McLaurin vs. Roger McCreary and Kristian Fulton
McLaurin has been mostly invisible this year, and Washington needs its #1 receiver to start making an impact. McLaurin was shut down by Treylon Burks last week and by Darius Slay the week before. McCreary and Fulton are a much easier matchup, so keep an eye out on whether McLaurin is more open in this game than he has been so far.
Jonathan Allen vs. Derrick Henry
Somebody has to face up to Derrick Henry, and Allen is both Washington’s guy in the middle and its best defensive player. Watching Allen go head to head with the star running back is going to be fun to watch. Keep an eye out on how stout Allen is in the middle against Henry.
OFFICIAL INJURY REPORT (active roster only)
LP – limited practice FP – full practice DNP – did not practice
NIR – not injury related Q – questionable O – out
D – doubtful NL – not listed
| Washington | Titans |
| S P. Butler, quad; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O | OLB O. Adeniyi, neck; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O |
| T S. Cosmi, finger; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O | WR T. Burks, toe; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O |
| WR J. Dotson, hamstring; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O | LB Z. Cunningham, elbow; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O |
| LB M. Eifler, hamstring; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O | G N. Davis, knee; Wed: NL; Thurs: DNP; Fri: LP; game: Q |
| WR C. Samuel, illness; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: FP | OLB B. Dupree, hip; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O |
| T C. Leno, shoulder; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP | S A. Hooker, concussion; Wed: LP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O |
| LB D. Mayo, hamstring; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP; game: Q | LB J. Jones, knee; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O |
| CB W. Jackson, back; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP | FB T. Carter, neck; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP |
| DT D. Wise, ankle; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP | CB C. Farley, knee; Wed: NL; Thurs: LP; Fri: DNP; game: Q |
| TE L. Thomas, calf; Wed: NL; Thurs: NL; Fri: DNP; game: Q | C B. Jones, back; Wed: NL; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP |
| DB U. Amadi, ankle; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP | |
| DB L. Johnson, illness; Wed: NL; Thurs: NL; Fri: DNP; game: Q |
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