Why Chig Okonkwo is the Key to a Titans victory VS. the Chargers
Okonkwo was held without a catch last week…
The Titans fell to the Saints last week in a close one, and in that game, Titans TE Chig Okonkwo had zero catches. Though Ryan Tannehill did miss Chig on a couple of wide-open throws, Tim Kelly didn’t do much to get his second-year TE involved. That must change this week because if the Titans want to avoid a 0-2 start for the second year in a row, they must get the explosive and underutilized Tight End involved!!
Chig has been a pleasant surprise since entering the league last season, as he has shown flashes of greatness so far. Last week, the Titans’ offense struggled as a whole with turnovers, mental mistakes, and sloppiness as a whole. Though many blamed Tannehill for most of this, rightfully so, Tim Kelly deserved some of the blame as well. Kelly didn’t get his best players involved when it mattered the most last week, and it hurt the Titans. You could argue it affected Chig the most, as the TE played 83% of the offense snaps last week and was only targeted twice. That is just unacceptable, especially for a guy who we believe can make the jump to being a Top 10 Tight End in the league this year. Though he was underutilized last week, Chig needs to be a focal point of the offense game plan this week, and here’s why…
The Chargers’ defense is awful, but their linebackers’ coverage skills may be worse. Last Week, Tua carved up the Chargers’ defense, especially over the middle of the field. Eric Kendricks and Kenneth Murray Jr. really struggled to run and defend those lasers from Tagovailoa all game last week. This is something the Titans can take advantage of, especially Chig. With his speed and route running across the middle of the field, there is no way those Chargers’ linebackers will be able to keep up with him. Plus, Kendricks is doubtful for this game, so the linebacker depth on LAC is getting worse just days leading up to the game. Tim Kelly must find ways to get Okonkwo involved because these linebackers flat-out can’t cover athletic tight ends or the middle of the field. This is also the type of game where Treylon Burks goes nuclear with no intimidating presence in the middle of the field!!
The Titans failed to get Chig involved last week, but they better this week. These Chargers linebackers’ are going to have a long day trying to stop the middle of the field against 85 and the rest of the Titans’ pass catchers…
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