Breaking Down the Offensive Line Issues Against the Jets

We knew this was going to be a rough week.  The Jets talented defense was just flat out better than the Titans' offense on Sunday.  They won at every level -- up front, in the middle and on the back end.  The biggest issue for Tennessee was up front as the Titans surrendered five sacks.

The hot spot all season has been the right tackle position. That continued on Sunday.  Byron Bell was signed as a band-aid for this season, but has been the weak link since moving back to right tackle.  He was playing better at guard, but was forced back to tackle after Jeremiah Poutasi flopped early.

Here's a look at the first sack. Bell bites on the outside step and Wilkerson gains a free path to Mariota.

This time Andy Gallik gets worked over up the middle and Calvin Pace sneaks past Bell to clean up.

The next one is interesting. It looks like Lewan lets his man go on purpose, giving the responsibility to Cobb.  Really not sure what the plan was here, but either way it wasn't a good one.

The last one is just an all out blitz from the Jets.  Mariota immediately has pressure up the middle from the blitzing safety and has to retreat in the pocket.  He backs into a sack from Lewan's assignment.

Overall, this game went almost exactly as we had it pegged. The offense was handcuffed without Kendall Wright and a lack of a run game. Mariota was going to have to play lights out to keep the Titans in this one, but that's hard to do without protection or consistency out of your receivers. Revamping the offensive line has to be at the top of the to-do list this offseason.