Week 6 Game Recap: Tennessee Titans 25, Washington Redskins 22

What you need to know

Tennessee Titans

The Titans fell behind early 14-3, but didn’t waiver from their game plan of pounding RB Travis Henry. Henry showed the ability to cut back and run with power reminiscent of his days in a Bills uniform.

QB Vince Young was able to use play action effectively because of an effective running game. His throwing motion continues to be called into question, but his decision making skills and accuracy were good enough (or not bad enough) to get the win on the road. An argument can easily be made that Tennessee won in spite of Young, not because of him. This said, Young showed the calm and cool of a veteran NFL quarterback in crunch time. His poise was undeniable.

The upset was made possible by several factors. Backup TE Casey Cramer blocked a punt out of the back of the end zone resulting in a safety, PK Rob Bironas hit all three of his field goals, and the Washington defense dropped several opportunities to take advantage of mistakes by QB Vince Young. Mix all these with a stagnant Washington offense and that spells upset.

Washington Redskins

The Redskins were committed to getting the ball to WR Santana Moss throughout the game. Moss saw 15 of the 18 passes intended for wide receivers (four to TE Chris Cooley and nine to running backs). Moss was targeted at or near the line of scrimmage on most plays. However, despite nine second half targets Moss didn’t have a reception after halftime.

RB Clinton Portis scored two rushing touchdowns, but didn’t get the touches you would have expected to see against the poor Tennessee defense. However, Portis did see a large increase in his passing targets.

QB Mark Brunell couldn’t move the Washington offense in the second half. After going to the locker room with the lead the Redskins failed to gain a first down on six of eight second half possessions.

What you ought to know

QB Vince Young, Pass: 13 - 25 - 161 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 6 - 10 - 0

Young displayed great poise and composure facing a decent pass rush and a hostile crowd at FedEx field. His overall performance was far from spectacular, and he made several questionable plays that could have turned the tide in the Redskins’ favor had they taken advantage of his mistakes. Several passes were nearly intercepted and Young didn’t protect the ball well when getting hit in the pocket. However, he deserves credit for making plays with his arm from the pocket that lead to points.

RB Travis Henry, Rush: 32 - 178 - 1, Rec: 2 - 3 - 0 (2 targets)

Henry was dominant running around and through the Washington defense. He ran with great shoulder lean and determination churning his legs for extra yards. As the game wore on the Titans began to feed him the ball more and more. He was able to grind away the clock shortening the game.

RB Chris Brown, Rush: 3 - 6 - 0

Brown had three carries in relief of RB Travis Henry.

RB LenDale White

Did not play due to stomach issues.

WR Brandon Jones, Rec: 3 - 34 - 1 (5 targets)

Jones caught his touchdown crossing the back of the end zone from three yards out. Jones showed good speed separating from the defensive back making it an easy pitch and catch. He made a big catch on a fourth and two play leading to the Henry touchdown. However, it was obvious on that play that Jones has a tough time keeping his feet under him and continuing to run. Instead of catching the ball in stride he had to leap into the air to pull in the pass while falling to the ground.

WR Drew Bennett, Rec: 3 - 60 - 0 (7 targets)

Bennett came up big on two third downs plays leading to scores for Tennessee. On the opening possession QB Vince Young drilled Bennett with a fifteen yard pass on third and eight to keep the drive alive. Later at the start of the third quarter Bennett went up high to steal the ball away from a defensive back pulling in a 27 yard lob over the top.

WR Bobby Wade, Rec: 2 - 36 - 0 (2 targets)

Wade caught both of his first half targets. Neither was spectacular or special in any way.

WR Roydell Williams, Rec: 1 - 20 - 0 (2 targets)

Williams caught his lone reception off a play action fake. After pulling in the ten yard out he broke a tackle and quickly turned it up field for a longer gain setting up the second Bironas field goal.

WR David Givens

Did not play due to hand injury.

TE Bo Scaife, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (5 targets)

Scaife was open on a post route into the end zone on the first Titans' possession, but QB Vince Young overthrew him on the play. His next target was also on the goal line.

TE Ben Troupe (3 targets)

Troupe dropped his first target on a misdirection play on the first Titan drive. He was also targeted on a deep throw to the corner of the end zone, but QB Vince Young didn’t give him a chance to make a play on the ball badly overthrowing the pass.

PK Rob Bironas 3 - 3 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 11 points

Bironas his all three of his attempts including a 31 yard field goal with 5:15 left in the game.

TEN Rush Defense

Clinton Portis was able to string together runs of 16, seven, and six yards, but these three plays happened over the course of four separate drives. For some reason the Washington brain trust refused to test the Titan run defense instead choosing to allow QB Mark Brunell to throw incomplete passes. After Brunell proved ineffective his last five runs went for two, one, zero, four, and one yards. The Titans’ run defense didn’t play extraordinarily well as much as the Redskins’ offense looked terrible.

TEN Pass Defense

Zero sacks and one interception (on the final Redskins’ play from scrimmage) doesn’t sound like a convincing performance. QB Mark Brunell shot himself in the foot with inaccurate passing and poor decisions. There were multiple other passes that could have been intercepted in the game, but were dropped by defensive players. The front seven was unable to put any pressure on Brunell

QB Mark Brunell, Pass: 16 - 30 - 180 - 1 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 3 - 3 - 0

Brunell was able to lead the Redskins’ offense to touchdowns on their first two possessions completing six of seven passes making it look too easy. However, the well went dry very fast. The Tennessee defense tightened up and dared Brunell to beat them deep, but a combination of poor play calling mixed with inaccurate passing allowed the Titans to creep back into the game. Brunell struggled to keep the Washington offense moving. After going to the locker room with the lead the Redskins failed to get a first down on six of eight second half possessions. His lone highlights in the second half were a beautifully thrown deep ball to WR Brandon Lloyd for 52 yards, and a strike in the back of the end zone to WR Santana Moss to convert a two point conversion tying the game, but it was far too little too late.

RB Clinton Portis, Rush: 14 - 58 - 2, Rec: 5 - 17 - 0 (7 targets)

Portis had only 14 carries as the Redskins relied more on the pass and lots of trick plays including reverses and end around plays. However, Washington attempted to utilize Portis more often in their passing game including a 22 yard play that was called back due to an illegal shift penalty. When he did get a chance to touch the ball Portis displayed his normal quickness and speed. He showed great burst on both of his touchdown runs.

RB Ladell Betts, Rush: 2 - -2 - 0, Rec: 2 - 18 - 0 (2 targets)

Betts was used as a third down specialist. Both of his receptions converted third down plays to keep drives alive.

RB Mike Sellers, Rush: 3 - 15 - 0

Sellers lined up and played fullback in this game seeing more carries today than he’s seen all season long. Generally he’s only utilized as a lead blocker.

WR Santana Moss, Rush: 2 - 33 - 0, Rec: 5 - 50 - 0 (15 targets)

Moss began the game with two end around plays. The second play went for 35 yards as he cut it back to the middle of field using great vision and cutting ability to make a big play. QB Mark Brunell leaned heavily on Moss looking for him mostly with short slants, crossing patterns, and out routes. The Redskins hoped to get the ball to Moss in the open field so he could make plays with his legs. Moss was able to tie the game with a two point conversion in the fourth quarter. He made a good cut to get open crossing the back of the end zone giving Brunell an easy target. This was his only catch in the second half.

WR Antwaan Randle El, Rush: 2 - 18 - 0, Rec: 1 - 16 - 0 (1 targets)

Randle El only had a single target in the game. He caught the slant, but fumbled on the way down to the ground as CB PacMan Jones ripped the ball out of his arm. The Redskins ran a sweep play for him on their second possession and an end around later on during the first half.

WR Brandon Lloyd, Rec: 1 - 52 - 0 (2 targets)

Lloyd didn’t see his first target until deep into the fourth quarter. It was a long post down the center of the field. QB Mark Brunell put it up high and out in front of Lloyd so he could go up and make a play on the ball. RB Clinton Portis scored two plays later.

TE Chris Cooley, Rec: 2 - 27 - 1 (4 targets)

Cooley put the Redskins up 14-3 with his first touchdown of the year at the start of the second quarter. Cooley ran a deep seam route up the right side. He did a nice job of turning around adjusting to the pass while falling forward into the end zone. Cooley only saw two targets in the second half as the Redskins opted to lean on WR Santana Moss instead.

PK Nick Novak 0 - 0 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 2 points

Novak missed out on another extra point attempt when the Redskins went for a two point conversion down by two points late in the game.

WAS Rush Defense

RB Travis Henry kept the Redskins on their heels during the second half. The Titans’ offensive line was able to wear down the Washington front seven by pounding them play after play. Poor tackling was the norm as they were often unable to bring Henry to the ground on first contact. Poor gap discipline allowed Henry to reel off several long gains near the end of the game as huge holes opened up inside the Washington defensive line.

WAS Pass Defense

The Redskins’ pass rush was able to drop QB Vince Young four times, but it wasn’t indicative of the lack of pressure they were able to generate. Young was able to use his legs to avoid the rush more often than not. The secondary had ample opportunities to intercept passes. Dropped balls that hit them in the hands or plays where they didn’t get their heads turned around to see balls coming their way resulted in missed chances to make a play.