How the Titans fare heading into Week 14

Nate Davis, USA TODAY:

WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine has 20 receptions this season … and eight have gone for touchdowns. Based on that, might be wise to target him more than three times a game.

Barry Werner, List Wire:

Talk about a no-show effort in the first half. The Titans were awful and were lucky the score wasn’t far worse.

NFL Nation, ESPN:

Westbrook-Ikhine has been a bright spot for a struggling Titans offense despite starting the season as the fourth receiver. The fifth-year wideout didn’t see any targets through the first four games, but he has been on a tear over the past seven. His eight receiving touchdowns over that stretch are tied with Ja’Marr Chase for the most in the NFL. That TD total also ties him with San Francisco tight end George Kittle for the third most among pass catchers. “It seems like every time we throw him the ball, it’s either a first down or a touchdown,” offensive coordinator Nick Holz said of Westbrook-Ikhine.

Ben Rolfe, Pro Football Network:

It has been a tough season for the Tennessee Titans, and that showed up in a sloppy performance in Washington. The defense was not great, but unruly play on offense and special teams put it in a lot of bad spots. The positive from the game was that Will Levis continues to look better in recent weeks and is showing he at least has the potential to remain in the NFL in a backup role if the team decides to find another starter.

Tennessee can be officially eliminated this week if it ties with or loses to Jacksonville.

Vinnie Iyer, The Sporting News:

The Titans have also seen flashes from their own second-year QB, Will Levis, and their defense has shined at times, too. They should put it all together better in the second year of Brian Callahan’s tenure.

Frank Schwab, Yahoo! Sports:

Nick Westbrook-Ikhine is on quite the heater. He had two touchdowns Sunday vs. the Commanders, bringing his total to eight in Tennessee’s past eight games. And that has come on just 20 catches.

Diante Lee, The Ringer:

If there was a thought that last week’s win over Houston would be a step in the right direction, that’s been totally stamped out. All season, the Titans defense had been the silver lining during an otherwise upsetting season, but they unraveled in the first half of Sunday’s loss to the Commanders. The front seven allowed two early explosive runs, and it didn’t seem like Tennessee had any answers for Washington’s spread attack.

On offense, receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine flashed his playmaking ability, but he was the only layer that stretched the field, and Tennessee found there was no room on the ground to run against a Washington defensive front that’s been dominated in recent weeks.

Eric Edholm, NFL.com:

What was the deal with the Titans’ run defense Sunday? This was a unit that clamped down on most opponents’ run games, but the Commanders ran for a stunning 267 yards — the exact number of rush yards Tennessee had allowed in its three previous games combined, and more than nearly 2.5 times its normal weekly allowance. There were major holes opened up front, and the Titans’ tackling problems compounded the matter. This just wasn’t the same Dennard Wilson-coordinated unit we’ve seen most of the season. There was no coming back from that, or the 28-0 deficit the Titans found themselves in. The offense sputtered early before showing signs of life late, but the 11 first-half penalties helped make the hole way too big to climb out of. Following a string of more competitive games recently, this was a full-fledged step backward for the Titans.