In back-to-back weeks, it’s North versus South, as the Green Bay Packers against the Tennessee Titans game is on tap. The Packers are coming off a victory against another AFC South team, and are looking to build momentum early in the 2024 NFL season. Meanwhile, the Titans are still searching for their first win of the year.
Both squads have questions surrounding the quarterback, just for far different reasons. The Titans are trying to nurture a young signal-caller, while the Packers may need the services of their backup again.
Key Players for the Packers
Without their franchise quarterback in Week 2, the Packers turned to Malik Willis. He wasn’t asked to do too much, both in volume and depth of target. Yet Willis understood and executed the assignment to near perfection. He only threw two incompletions, and avoided mistakes such as sacks and turnovers.
At first, Matt LaFleur was only calling up screen passes. Once the defense tightened up, it forced Willis to have to throw past the line of scrimmage. When called upon to make plays with his arm, Willis demonstrated great accuracy, timing and touch on his passes. He even produced his first career regular-season passing touchdown. That is something he failed to do in his first three starts with Tennessee. Unlike his time with the Titans, Willis looked competent running the Packers offense. Now, he’s even more ready to face his old team in a revenge game.
Great offensive line play is key when employing the backup quarterback. During Week 2, the Packers did not allow a sack. Part of that is Willis’ ability to scramble and avoid the pass rush. But the offensive line deserves credit for opening good run lanes and avoiding putting Willis under duress too often. The two most important players on the line are left guard Elgton Jenkins, and right tackle Zac Tom.
Defensively, the key to this new Jeff Hafley scheme is getting pressure with the four-man front. Defensive tackle Kenny Clark is excellent in both run and pass defense, but is often the lineman that opponents will double team. The problem for the Packers is finding another interior defensive lineman who can dominate one-on-one matchups. Last week, Devonte Wyatt started to show he can be that guy. If he can continue to develop, Green Bay may have a solid duo on the interior.
Key Players for the Titans
Looking at the quarterback matchup, Willis will square off against the player the Titans drafted to replace him. Will Levis was supposed to supplant Willis as a more well-rounded prospect. Well, through 11 career starts, Levis has failed to produce more than a touchdown per game, and has more turnovers than scores this season. The young quarterback needs to protect the football better in order to win games.
This season, Tennessee gifted Levis with wide receiver Calvin Ridley. That was supposed to create a great duo alongside DeAndre Hopkins.
So far, Ridley has done his part, but Hopkins has been dealing with a injury since the preseason. Right now, Ridley appears to be the biggest threat for the Packers defense. Will we see a lot of Jaire Alexander versus Ridley? Only time will tell.
Looking at the Titans’ front seven, they have excellent players at both levels. Jeffery Simmons is probably the key defensive lineman that Green Bay will need to handle. While it would be tempting to attempt constant double teams on Simmons, the linebackers are enough of a threat to prevent that. Harold Landry can especially be a game wrecker that the Packers’ tackles will need to be aware of.
Keys to Win the Game
The Packers got a Week 2 win thanks to a great game plan against a defense struggling to stop the run. That’s two contests in a row that the Colts were so inept at stopping the run that the opposing lead back received over 30 carries. This will likely not be the case against the Titans defense. In order to get the win, Green Bay will probably have to trust Willis to throw down field right away.
The play calling on downs also needs to get less predictable. Often times in Week 2, LaFleur was calling runs on first and second down, while only throwing on third-and-long. That worked because their rushing attack was so effective. Against the Titans that may not be the case. After two contests, Tennessee has allowed the 10th fewest rushing yards. For the Packers to have success, they have to trust Willis to throw on first down, and to attempt far more than 14 passes.
By stopping the run, and forcing Willis to throw far more often than last week, the Titans could find success. If they can create turnovers it will certainly go a long way for Tennessee to win in front of the home crowd. However, quarterback Levis has to avoid interceptions and other costly mistakes in order to have a chance.
Who will win the early-season Titans vs. Packers game? We’ll find out on Sunday.
