The Titans get no soft landing in Week 2.
After a flat opener against the New York Jets, Tennessee returns home Sunday to face the Philadelphia Eagles, a 1-0 team that took care of the Washington Commanders in its first game. The Titans are 0-1, still searching for their first opening-day win in six seasons, and they come into this matchup as heavy underdogs.
That leaves Tennessee with a short list of musts: Cam Ward has to start trending up, the defense has to tighten against the run, and the offensive line has to show it can stand up to a tougher front than the one it just saw. There are a few different pressure points in this game, but they all circle back to the same idea - the Titans need visible growth, and they need it fast.
Ward’s first NFL season-opening performance did not give Tennessee much to build on. The young quarterback played conservatively against the Jets and, at times, looked uneasy. Robert Saleh has kept stressing patience, but that message gets harder to sell when the results stay flat.
The numbers are rough, too. Ward is 3-15 as a starter in his career, and after one game in 2026 he sits 26th in QBR.
That follows a dead-last finish in QBR in 2025 and a 107th-of-108 showing in the 2026 preseason. Tennessee is counting on him to help lift the team out of the AFC South basement, but the first step has been slow.
There is at least one encouraging note with Ward: at this stage of his career, he compares well to some top-tier quarterbacks. That does not erase the poor start, but it does keep the long view in place.
On defense, one of the biggest questions is whether Anthony Hill Jr. keeps his spot once Cedric Gray is back. Hill made his NFL debut against the Jets and looked ready for the moment. He led the Titans with 16 tackles, showed up in pass defense, and nearly forced a game-changing fumble that was ruled an incomplete pass.
Hill started in Gray’s place and, based on both the preseason and Week 1, has clearly been ahead of Cody Barton as well. He brings more athleticism to the second level, and that matters against an Eagles ground game built around Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley.
That same Eagles run game creates another major test for Tennessee: can the Titans force Hurts to operate strictly as a passer? Jeffery Simmons made the mission plain.
"We just need to make Jalen Hurts be a quarterback. Stop his runs, make sure he doesn't get out of the pocket and make plays."
That’s easier said than done, especially after Tennessee struggled to stop the run on early downs against the Jets. Gray’s return should help, but the defensive line has to carry its weight too. The Titans simply can’t afford another day where the front gets pushed around.
There’s also an opening on the other side of the ball that Tennessee has to try to exploit. The Eagles will be missing Pro Bowl guard Landon Dickerson, who was placed on injured reserve Monday. That gives either Jeffery Simmons or John Franklin-Myers a matchup they should be able to win against a backup.
But the Titans can’t count on that alone. Their own offensive line has to rebound after a shaky first game together, and center Austin Schlottmann had the roughest debut of the group. With Jackson Slater and Pat Coogan both sidelined, the leash on Schlottmann becomes a real question.
Tennessee also needs more force in the run game. All offseason, the talk was about playing with a physical edge, but the Jets controlled too much of the line of scrimmage. Against Philadelphia, the Titans will need that identity to show up in a hurry.
In Other News...
Titans Have An Offensive Problem Cam Ward Cant Keep Hiding
The Titans offense has spent too much of the past 18 games fighting the same problems in plain view, and the screen game has become one of the easiest to spot. What was supposed to be a simple way to help Cam Ward settle in has instead turned into another source of frustration, with the operation around those plays not matching the kind of rhythm Tennessee needs to get moving.
Brian Daboll now has to decide whether those calls are worth keeping in the playbook at all, or whether the Titans are better off leaning on other ways to simplify the offense and create cleaner answers for Ward. Tom Bradys recent comments about the early weeks under a new coordinator only sharpen the point here: this is the stage where good offenses start trimming the fat, and Tennessee still has to figure out which part of its passing game is helping and which part is just getting in the way. [Read more 🡒]
Cedric Gray Could Change Everything For A Titans Defense Under Pressure
Cedric Gray was back on the practice field Wednesday and Thursday, a strong sign the Titans linebacker is on track to clear concussion protocol and return for Week 2 against the Eagles. His availability matters more than it might in a typical early-season game, because Tennessee already got a preview of how thin the margin can be when a key linebacker is missing and the defense is forced to lean harder on the next man up.
Anthony Hill handled a bigger role in Grays absence against the Jets, but the Titans still have to prove that performance can translate against a far more demanding opponent. Grays return would give Tennessee a steadier look in the middle and another piece to help a defense that is already under pressure to hold up as the schedule gets tougher. [Read more 🡒]
Titans Make An Early Defensive Change Robert Saleh Couldn't Delay
After a rough opener, the Titans are making an early adjustment on defense, turning to rookie linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. as the starter at MIKE for Week 2 against the Eagles. Hills debut was hard to ignore: he piled up tackles at a pace that stood out league-wide and earned the highest PFF grade among rookies last week, giving Tennessee a fresh option in the middle of the defense at a time when the unit is still searching for answers.
Robert Saleh confirmed the move while the staff continues to sort through what it has in veterans Cedric Gray and Cody Barton. The timing says plenty about where the Titans are right now, trying to stabilize the front seven quickly after Week 1 and leaning into the player who made the strongest first impression, even if the larger linebacker picture is still unsettled. [Read more 🡒]