What We Saw: Preseason Week 1

Ben Brown
What We Saw 3 Years Ago
Series Navigation
Introduction
Washington @ Patriots
Steelers @ Eagles
Titans @ Falcons
Bills @ Lions
Cowboys @ Cardinals
Dolphins @ Bears
Broncos @ Vikings
Browns @ Jaguars
Saints @ Ravens
Jets @ Giants
Bengals @ Buccaneers
Texans @ Packers
Chiefs @ 49ers
Seahawks @ Raiders
Chargers @ Rams
Panthers @ Colts

Titans @ Falcons

Final Score: Titans 23, Lions 3

Writer: Ben Brown (@BenBrownPL on Twitter, iamatechnician on Reddit)

 

I’ve gotta admit – I missed the first six minutes of this game because I thought it was at 7:30 Eastern, not 7:00, so I didn’t see the Titans’ first drive. It ended in a punt, so I don’t think we missed much. I was excited, however, to get a look at the Falcons’ first drive once I finally tuned in. Matt Ryan, Calvin Ridley, Kyle Pitts… this was gonna be fun! And then I saw this tweet.

 

 

Turns out that the majority of starters on both teams were inactive in this game. Bummer. I was really looking forward to Julio Jones’ return to Atlanta and seeing how he fits into their offense. I was also looking forward to a couple of drives from Kyle Pitts, but we didn’t get to see that either. This game really didn’t have much going for it right from the get-go.

The story of the game was easily Feleipe Franks, who came on in the 2nd half for the Falcons and immediately injected some energy into the offense. We’ll get into the specifics in the Falcons section of the blurbs but he looked really good on the ground despite not getting much help from his receivers or his offensive line.

Otherwise, this one was borderline unwatchable. It was marred by far too many penalties (20 combined) and bad offensive line play by both teams. The two teams combined for 190 passing yards, which goes to show just how unexciting this one was. Tennessee did win this one 23-3 but it was a rough one all around.

 

Tennessee Titans

 

Quarterback

 

Logan Woodside: 10/15, 84 yards, TD, 3 sacks | 1 carry, 6 yards

Matt Barkley: 5/8, 54 yards, TD, sack | 2 carries, -2 yards

 

Logan Woodside was battling DeShone Kizer for the #2 QB role on this team and he won it pretty easily since Kizer was released last week. Woodside started the game in place of Ryan Tannehill and started off the game with no incompletions on the first drive. He made a few good throws, including this back-shoulder toss to Cameron Batson on the first drive of the second quarter.

 

 

He put the ball in a spot where only the receiver could catch it and was rewarded with the touchdown. Batson also made a good play on the ball, going up to secure it in pretty tight coverage. It was probably the best play Tennessee made on offense all game.

Woodside also made a few good throws on the move while avoiding pressure, because Atlanta’s defense was of course putting all kinds of pressure on him.

 

 

Matt Barkley, who was signed last week to replace Kizer on the depth chart, came in for the second half and looked about as good as you’d expect him to look. He fumbled a snap on a third and one play which they then couldn’t convert, and he generally looked as inaccurate as he’s been his entire career. He did throw for a touchdown after a roughing the kicker penalty extended a drive (and looked to seriously injure Titans’ kicker Brett Kern), but of course the receiver was wide open and Barkley was able to lob it up to him.

 

 

Running Backs

 

Darrynton Evans: 4 carries, 26 yards | 1 target, 1 reception, 2 yards

Mekhi Sargent: 16 carries, 58 yards | 1 target, 1 reception, 6 yards

Jeremy McNichols: 4 carries, 17 yards

Brian Hill: 10 carries, 33 yards

 

This team is a run-first team, and even without Derrick Henry they will run the ball on three straight downs if they have to. They did so on multiple occasions in this one and it was honestly tough to watch.

Darrynton Evans, the widely accepted backup to Henry, had a really nice run on the first drive of the game before getting injured on the very next drive.

 

 

 

 

Evans did not return. He was replaced by Jeremy Nichols, who didn’t really do much. Again, the offensive line was an issue in this one and they put their RBs at a disadvantage all night long.

One guy who I did like was Mekhi Sargent. The Iowa product is definitely on the roster bubble as an UDFA but could likely end up on the practice squad. He had a nice 11 yard run where he juked a defender and hit some open space before getting brought down from behind. He hit holes hard, and while he didn’t rack up a lot of yards after contact (which isn’t exactly his MO) he looked better than any other back on the field not named Evans. And that includes Atlanta’s backs, which we’ll get to soon. I doubt he will make any sort of impact in 2021 for fantasy purposes, but keep an eye on him for the rest of the preseason as he may be a name to watch in dynasty formats.

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

 

Mason Kinsey: 4 targets, 4 receptions, 51 yards

Miller Forristall: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 20 yards, TD

Chester Rogers: 1 target, 1 reception, 17 yards

Cameron Batson: 2 targets, 1 reception, 15 yards, TD

Jared Pinkney: 1 target, 1 reception, 10 yards

Fred Brown: 4 targets, 2 receptions, 10 yards

Luke Stocker: 1 target, 1 reception, 7 yards

 

The three notable plays by this squad were the two touchdowns on offense and a 68-yard punt return by Chester Rogers.

 

 

Both Rogers and Cameron Batson, who caught the back shoulder touchdown from Logan Woodside that was mentioned earlier, had punt return opportunities in this game and both did well with those opportunities. They may be in a battle for one roster spot at this point and honestly it’s an even race after their performances in this game.

Mason Kinsey converted a 4th down catch midway through the 2nd which he went up and secured with a defender right on him. It was a nice play that likely earned Kinsey some points with the coaching staff as he tries to fight his way onto this team.

 

Atlanta Falcons

 

Quarterback

 

AJ McCarron: 5/12, 36 yards, INT, 2 sacks | 2 carries, 11 yards

Feleipe Franks: 2/9, 16 yards, 3 sacks | 4 carries, 76 yards

 

AJ McCarron started the game and on their first play from scrimmage, he completed a bootleg pass to Ryan Becker. Little did he know he would be doing so much scrambling on the night, as just like the Tennessee offensive line, Atlanta’s line was also terrible.

McCarron had a couple of nice passes to Tajae Sharpe which were called back by penalties, as well as a pass where he expected Sharpe to go deep while Sharpe instead cut to the sideline. It was a clear miscommunication. McCarron overthrew him by a good 20 yards and Sharpe didn’t even get credit for the target. In fact, he doesn’t even show up in the box score as a result of those three plays.

At one point, McCarron scrambled his way to a sack very close to their own goal line that would have set Atlanta up with a third and 18, but he was bailed out by a holding penalty in the secondary. Whether his timing was simply off because of poor blocking in front of him, or if he’s simply just that bad, McCarron just didn’t appear to be on the same page with anyone all night.

He threw one interception on third and long which was just terrible as he threw it right into triple coverage. The linebacker made a nice play to go up and get it, but you can’t make this mistake if you’re a quarterback in the National Football League.

 

 

McCarron also threw another interception that was overturned by review, and it actually wasn’t even his fault either. As he released the ball his arm was hit by a defender, causing the ball to sail out of his hand. A defender dove to catch it and appeared to at first, but it did get overturned. McCarron should have felt the pressure and stepped up in the pocket regardless. Overall, not a great showing for the former Alabama QB.

As I mentioned in the opening blurb, this game would have been an absolute disaster if not for Feleipe Franks. Franks is an UDFA who started his collegiate career at Florida before transferring to Arkansas. He’s always had inaccuracy issues, but his MO is his legs, and at six-foot-seven he is a tough man to bring down.

He lit a spark in the offense as soon as he entered the game, running 11 yards and converting Atlanta’s first first-down in what felt like forever. He also had another play where he dropped back to pass, saw an opening, and scampered for another first down. It was a good, quick decision that will work in the preseason quite often but may not work as well if he’s in there against the starters. He drove the team down the field and they were able to kick a field goal on his first drive. It was pretty impressive after watching McCarron flop around like a fish out of water for two quarters.

 

 

On his second drive, on a 3rd and 3, Atlanta ran a play-action designed QB run where he ran for the 1st down. It was unfortunately called back on a holding penalty. On third and long he avoided pressure, rolled out to his left, and tried to direct a receiver towards the sideline but had to throw it away after the pressure got to him. Again, he was way more impressive through two drives than any other QB in this game.

He had the highlight of the night later in the game with a 51-yard run where he showed off some moves to evade defenders. It was a heck of a run and is something this offense lacks. This run went for more yards than all of the RBs put up on the night combined.

 

 

Later in the drive, he had a nice throw on third and long while under pressure but the receiver dropped a ball that was right on the numbers. Franks didn’t exactly lead the receiver but it still should have been caught. He’s not the most accurate passer in the world but he was burned by his receivers and O-Line on multiple occasions. He showed me enough that I’d like to see what he could do with their starters upfront and some time in the pocket. If he looks like this again next week, let alone shows some improvement with his arm, he should have no problem making this team as a backup to Matt Ryan.

 

Running Backs

 

Caleb Huntley: 6 carries, 18 yards | 1 target, 1 reception, 14 yards

D’Onta Foreman: 3 carries, 10 yards

Javian Hawkins: 5 carries, 2 yards | 1 target, 1 reception, 2 yards

 

The running game for Atlanta was atrocious all night long. Caleb Huntley got the start with starter Mike Davis inactive, and he didn’t really do much. He had one nice run called back by a holding penalty, and he did look a little better after Franks came in, but otherwise, he had nowhere to go on the ground. He was the second leading receiver in this game, which says a lot about the offensive output in this one.

D’Onta Foreman is a name some of you will remember from his days in Houston, and he looked pedestrian at best. None of these names should be a consideration for your fantasy team at any point this season.

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

 

John Raine: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 15 yards

Parker Hesse: 3 targets, 1 reception, 8 yards

Ryan Becker: 1 target, 1 reception, 8 yards

Juwan Green: 5 targets, 1 reception, 5 yards

 

Yeahhhh…

 

https://gfycat.com/bitterancientcatfish

 

— Ben Brown (@BenBrownPL on Twitter, iamatechnician on Reddit)

Series Navigation
Introduction
Washington @ Patriots
Steelers @ Eagles
Titans @ Falcons
Bills @ Lions
Cowboys @ Cardinals
Dolphins @ Bears
Broncos @ Vikings
Browns @ Jaguars
Saints @ Ravens
Jets @ Giants
Bengals @ Buccaneers
Texans @ Packers
Chiefs @ 49ers
Seahawks @ Raiders
Chargers @ Rams
Panthers @ Colts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.