Steelers at Titans
Game Info
Kickoff: Sunday, August 25th at 8:00 pm ET
Location: Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN
Betting Odds: TEN -3 via Oddsshark
Network: NBC
Pittsburgh Steelers
How the receiving corps lines up behind JuJu Smith-Schuster and Donte Moncrief?
We should get our first look at the offense with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger under center this preseason. Smith-Schuster is the locked-in wide receiver one, and Moncrief has gotten the starter treatment as well. Moncrief has barely played so far in the preseason although some of that can be chalked up to a finger injury early on in camp. James Washington has made some big plays so far in the preseason, but he also did that last preseason while doing nothing of note in the regular season. Washington only got one first-team snap last week to Moncrief’s nine. Rookie Diontae Johnson and slot receivers Eli Rogers and Ryan Switzer are the other guys vying for playing time. Let us see who gets the playing time with Roethlisberger this week and how they perform. The Steelers had the most pass attempts in the NFL last season, so the guys that can carve out a role in this passing game are going to be late-round targets for me.
Does Jaylen Samuels get any looks with the first-team offense?
Running-back James Conner is the starter this year, and he got all of the reps with the starters last week with Samuels getting run with the second team. The Steelers have historically gone with one running-back system and not giving multiple backs significant roles. Conner was the RB-3 in PPR formats from weeks 1-10 last season before injuries took its toll on his end of season production. Samuels performed well from weeks 14-16 when he had a full-time role, turning in the RB 11 in that time. I want to see if Samuels can get any kind of role with Roethlisberger in the game or if he is squarely a handcuff this season.
Tennessee Titans
Quarterback Competition?
The news came out earlier this week that the Titans quarterback position may be more of an open competition than anyone thought. Incumbent, multi-year starter Marcus Mariota hasn’t stood out in camp, after dealing with a nerve injury in his throwing elbow last year. He had a solid performance in the second preseason game after an okay start in the first game and will need another strong one this week to solidify his starting gig. This is also the final year of his rookie contract and he is playing for a coach and a GM that weren’t in Tennessee when he was drafted Former Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill was brought in to push Mariota and has looked good in his two preseason performances so far with a (19/27 214 yards, 3 touchdown passes) stat line through two games. Let’s see if Mariota can have another strong showing and silence the quarterback competition talk.
Ancillary Pieces and Flow of the Offense
The Titans skill position starters are set for the most part with Derek Henry and Dion Lewis dominating backfield touches. Then there is Corey Davis as the number one receiver, Adam Humphries in the slot and Delanie Walker at tight end. There is a bit of a competition brewing at the other outside receiver role. There are former mid-round draft picks Taywan Taylor and Tajae Sharpe, both have failed to deliver after garnering some hype in previous seasons. Then there is second-round rookie A.J. Brown, who has been limited with an injury for most of the training camp but has recently returned to practice. I also want to see how the first-team offense looks under new OC Arthur Smith. There isn’t supposed to be a big change in the offensive scheme under Smith, but I want to see if there is any indication that the Titans will improve on being 31st in pass attempts like they were last year.
-Kevin Taylor (KtBeast918)
Featured Image by Nathan Mills (@NathanMillsPL)