New Orleans Saints: Keys to overcoming the Tennessee Titans

3. Air out the football

When playing a team like the Tennessee Titans, who get the ball and try to piece together long drives by running the football and eating time off the clock, teams can fall into a trap of trying to beat them at their own game.

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Also contributing to that is the fact that the Titans have a good defense. The team ranks eighth in points allowed per game this season, allowing opponents to score, on average, 19.9 points per game.

Seeing a defense like that and knowing that if you do make a mistake and turn the ball over, teams may go the other way and protect the ball, again, playing not to lose instead of playing to win.

The Saints should not even entertain the Titans with this style of play. We have seen the team adopt a slower pace at certain points this season but if the last two weeks have shown us anything, it is that this offense is at its best when it is working quickly and airing it out.

The Saints have the talent to score 30+ points a game and they should rely on that rather than relying on a clock management style of play to outlast the Titans. This way, the chances of the Saints getting out to an early lead and forcing the issue on the Titans increase, and when that is the case, Tennessee is not as effective.

It seems so simple but you would be surprised in the way that teams have been playing the Titans this season. The worst-case scenario is that the Saints’ first drive does fall flat and they give the ball back to the clock-draining Titans.

At that point, there will still be a lot of game left to play. The New Orleans Saints cannot focus on winning the time of possession battle, the team should look to bring a shootout to the Titans.