Handle Business: Eagles vs. Titans Week 2 Preview

The second week of the NFL season is here. The Eagles are coming off a thrilling 24-22 victory over the Washington Commanders and are looking to continue to build with the Sean Mannion-led offense and head into blazing-hot Nashville, Tennessee, to seek a 2-0 start.

The Tennessee Titans are coming off of a brutal 23-10 loss to the New York Jets, a team that hasn’t won more than seven games since 2015. Now, it may be a little too early in the season to distinguish whether or not that is the fault of Tennessee, or if the Jets genuinely are a competitive team this year.

The Eagles, who have never won in Nashville, will have some different looks on offense. Still, they should be able to handle business against this Titans team.

A Mixed-Up O-Line

With the injury to Landon Dickerson that sent him to injured reserve, the Eagles’ interior of the offensive line is going to be different Sunday afternoon.

The Eagles are starting Cam Jurgens at left guard and Drew Kendall at center. The Eagles were always going to have an in-house replacement for Dickerson, but they decided to move Jurgens around a bit.

This would probably not have happened under former legendary o-line coach Jeff Stoutland. He never moved guys around, typically just plugging and placing. Rather, now under Chris Kuper, the Eagles are trying something new. The Eagles worked hard all week to keep this a secret for competitive advantage reasons.

Jurgens, who struggled in Week 1, picking up a couple of key penalties, has been the Eagles’ starting center for the last two seasons and has been named a Pro Bowler in each. He also played right guard in 2023. Jurgens has experience at guard in the NFL, but has a relationship with Jalen Hurts, who also seemed to indicate that he had only been taking snaps from Jurgens during the week.

Kendall was a fifth-round pick out of Boston College last year. He was a center in college, and it is his natural position. Kendall did take most of his reps at guard in training camp and even filled in for Dickerson at left guard when Dickerson had a couple of rest days.

Interesting decision.

Can Tennessee Keep Up?

Looking at the Titans roster, questions arise on if they can really compete against this Philadelphia squad. With Philly’s DBs being among the best in the NFL, the Titans’ receivers are not quite on the same caliber. The receiving group in Tennessee is led by rookie out of Ohio State Carnell Tate, who is a threat, but should not be a huge issue for the Eagles’ defense. Tate only hauled in four catches for 38 yards against New York, but could be targeted a little more against Philadelphia.

Tate is joined by a 31-year-old Calvin Ridley and Wan’Dale Robinson in the receiving room, and Tony Pollard mans the run game for the Titans. If the year was 2022, this would be an elite lineup consisting of some of the best players in the league at their positions. Quarterback Cam Ward, in his second year after being the No. 1 pick in 2024, had his struggles with accuracy last season, finishing the season with just a 59 percent completion percentage, and ended with 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions. His mobility does make him dangerous, but the combination of talent at the defensive line for Philadelphia, along with the help in the middle from Zack Baun, makes Ward using his legs all the more difficult.

Eagles Look to Build Momentum on Offense

The Eagles are looking to continue to improve on the offensive unit that Mannion has already established as potentially dangerous in the NFC. In the first game of the year, while Mannion’s offense wasn’t elite, flashes of potential in Dontayvion Wicks, as well as the rest of the offensive lineup, were clear.

Hurts had an excellent game, producing plays on the ground and in the air to help lead the team to 24 points. While there is room for improvement, they looked very good against a decent opponent in the Commanders.

This game against the Titans may just be the perfect opportunity to showcase that offense.

The Titans defense is among the worst in the NFL, expected to rank in the bottom five in overall defensive efficiency in the league. The story of the game for Philly is not necessarily going to just be about trying to take advantage of the poor Tennessee offense. Much of it is going to come from the Eagles doing what they can against the abysmal defense and using that to be able to develop the offense for future opponents.

After this game, the Eagles have a tough stretch against some of the toughest teams in the league: the Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars in London, and Carolina Panthers all in a row. In order to be ready for those future games, Philadelphia needs to first take care of Tennessee.

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