Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Titans Talk

Posted September 17th, 2026 | No Comments »

Tennessee went 3-14 in 2024 and that earned them the #1 overall pick. They drafted QB Cam Ward and thought they had a cornerstone player to build around. The team went 3-14 again last year and then lost to the Jets in last week’s opener. They are 6-29 in their last 35 games. Not good.

Robert Saleh was hired in the offseason to turn the team around. Losing to the Jets 23-10 and being out-gained 367 to 195 was not the start anyone expected or wanted. Saleh is taking a lot of heat for his team’s poor performance and he’s not had great messaging when talking to the media.

Yikes.

That’s not very inspirational. That’s not what you want your new team or your new fans to hear. Saleh struggled as coach of the Jets, but he’s been a terrific defensive coordinator. Maybe he’ll figure things out over time.

His key task is getting Ward to play well and to have a functional offense. Last year they were 30th in points and 31st in yards. So how did the offense do in the opener?

That makes the Eagles look like the 1999 Rams. Ugh. There is a lot of blame to go around. Ward hasn’t shown signs of becoming the player they hoped for when drafted first overall. The OL has been a mess for a few years. They don’t have a great set of playmakers. And now Ward and his teammates are learning a new scheme. That’s not off to the greatest start, as you’ll see below.

The Titans didn’t have a single play go for more than 14 yards. If you want to know what the Eagles offense would have looked like without the explosives, there you go. And it wasn’t pretty.

So what about the Titans defense? They were dead last on the stat below.

Saleh runs a 1-gap attacking defense that is built on making plays. They didn’t make many plays and gave up 152 yards on the ground. That’s not a winning formula.

This has to be really frustrating since they thought they made some key defensive improvements in the offseason. They had a great player to build around in DT Jeffery Simmons. He’s the best DT in the league. They traded for DE Jermaine Johnson and spent a first round pick on Keldric Faulk so they’d have the edge rushers that scheme requires. They added DL John Franklin-Myers to give them another guy who could get upfield and make plays. Tennessee drafted LB Anthony Hill to upgrade the middle of the defense. They added CB Alontae Taylor to shore up the back end of the unit. On paper this defense should be competitive. They struggled against the Jets.

Hill did have a good game and showed real promise.

This is not a good team right now. They are at the bottom of the league with the Browns and Dolphins. Tennessee has the potential to turn things around if the coaches can get some things straightened out and if the players live up to their potential. There is a lot of work to be done by everyone involved.

*****

There was some question about what the Eagles would do with their OL now that Landon Dickerson is on IR. Based on comments by Jalen Hurts it sure sounds like Cam Jurgens will stay at center and Drew Kendall will be the LG. That makes the most sense to me so I’m glad they’re going with this plan.

As for Dickerson, I found this quote to be interesting. Sometimes we forget about the human element when talking about football.

Hopefully Dickerson gets healthy so he and his bestie can play together later on this season.

*****

The Eagles put Britain Covey on the roster to fill one of the open spots they had. The other spot is still open. That’s curious.

They did add TE Josiah Deguara to the practice squad. He played for GB from 2020 to 2023 so he has familiarity with the scheme. Deguara is 6-2, 240 so he’s more of a FB/TE hybrid. Think of him as a Cam Latu type.

*****

There wasn’t a doubt.

_