Ravens vs. Titans: 5 things to watch, including Jeffery Simmons, Mark Andrews and a fast start

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On Wednesday, three days after the best win of his young head coaching career, Jesse Minter stood at a Ravens news conference, looking unbothered behind a pair of sunglasses. Inside, he was feeling antsy.

“I don’t really like the word comfortable, because I don’t think you’re ever comfortable,” he said.

No, not even as double-digit favorites over the Tennessee Titans. Not when injuries have sidelined your top three centers (Danny Pinter, Jovaughn Gwyn and Ethan Pocic). Not when your last home win was over 300 days ago. And certainly not when your star quarterback is limited in practice, if only for a day.

As the Ravens (2-1) move on from a rollicking win in Rio de Janeiro over the Dallas Cowboys, here’s what to watch in their Week 4 matchup against visiting Tennessee (0-3). All stats are courtesy of Sports Info Solutions, Pro Football Focus and the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, unless otherwise noted.

1. Titans All-Pro defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons will test rookie Vega Ioane’s readiness at center Sunday. But the starters on both sides of the rookie will feel the most heat.

Of Simmons’ 15 pressures this season, just two have come after early wins against a center. The rest have come after lining up over a guard’s outside shoulder or a tackle’s inside shoulder, then winning a one-on-one — sometimes in a flash. Simmons has registered five pressures in 2.5 seconds or less, tied for the fourth most among defensive tackles.

Ioane can help with double teams, but the integrity of the Ravens’ pocket will depend mostly on left guard John Simpson and their new right guard, likely Andrew Vorhees. Simmons almost never leaves the field, earning an 86% snap share through three games.

“Jeffery Simmons is a really good player,” Ravens defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said Thursday. “Every week in this job, you basically try to solve the problems of the week. They change every week. This is one of those times where obviously we have a little bit of inexperience in the interior. It is a strength of theirs, and so schematically, we are trying to create an advantage as best we can.”

2. Running back Derrick Henry acknowledged Wednesday that he has to be better in short-yardage situations. But there is a fall-back option the Ravens have yet to use this season: tight end Mark Andrews.

Over the past two seasons as the Ravens’ primary “tush push” ball carrier, Andrews converted 10 of 14 plays (71.4%) when the offense needed to gain 1 yard. Henry is just 1-for-4 in those scenarios this season and was 40-for-54 (74.1%) over his first two years in Baltimore.

“Whatever the coaches ask, I’m in,” Andrews said Thursday. “Everyone here’s bought in, so I’m excited for whatever.”

The Ravens have rarely found themselves in obvious rushing situations this year, but their struggles have been notable. On five late-down, short-yardage carries — 3 yards to go or fewer — the Ravens have one first down and an NFL-worst minus-1 rushing yard total. Dallas stopped them twice on fourth-and-1 Sunday, including at the end of a goal-line series in the fourth quarter.

“Anytime that we go down there and we do not score on a run play or four run plays, I feel like I failed as a coach,” offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said Thursday. “I feel like our staff feels like we failed our players. I feel like our players feel like they failed [in] execution.”

3. In an ideal game Sunday, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson would hand the ball off or fake a handoff on every single play.

A back injury limited Jackson in practice Wednesday, and the more the Ravens can do to ease his burden and keep him out of harm’s way, the better. Henry should be plenty motivated, too, as he faces the team he started his career with, making three Pro Bowls over eight seasons in Tennessee.

“Nothing changes with Derrick,” Simmons, a friend and former teammate of Henry’s, told local reporters Wednesday. “He’s a big back. Hit his ass.”

But run fakes should also keep the Titans’ pass rush at bay. Tennessee has the NFL’s second-lowest pressure rate on play-action drop-backs this season (17.4%), a dangerous prospect against a Ravens passing attack averaging an NFL-best 13.9 yards per play-action attempt.

4. There might not be a worse offense in the NFL than the Titans’ first-half offense.

According to RBSDM.com, Tennessee ranks last in expected points added per play, last in success rate, last in EPA per drop-back and last in drop-back success rate through the first and second quarters. The Titans have just eight total first downs in the first half, including just one in Sunday’s loss to the New York Giants. Titans quarterback Cam Ward is 17-for-31 (54.8% accuracy) in the first half for 136 passing yards, with four carries for 14 yards and a touchdown.

The Ravens, for all their late-game misadventures, have delivered early in games. Their first-half defense ranks third in EPA per play and sixth in success rate. The Ravens allowed 13 points before halftime against the Indianapolis Colts, six against the New Orleans Saints and 13 against Dallas, but two of those touchdowns came after turnovers handed the Ravens short fields to defend.

“Nameless, faceless opponents — it doesn’t matter their record, doesn’t matter their past history,” safety Kyle Hamilton said Thursday of the Titans. “They are grown men who are more than capable enough of coming in here and beating us. They are the best players in the world over there as well. I think that is something that in this league can be lost at times.”

5. If the Ravens’ secondary needed a get-right game for tackling purposes, it couldn’t have picked a better opponent than Tennessee.

Ward is averaging just 6.3 air yards per attempt, one of the NFL’s lowest rates. His passes are arriving an average of 2.9 yards short of the first-down marker, also one of the NFL’s lowest marks. A conservative approach Sunday should give the Ravens plenty of opportunities to swarm the ball and tackle in space.

Even more encouraging: Tennessee’s open-field elusiveness has been underwhelming. Titans receivers haven’t broken a tackle and have forced just five missed tackles on their 55 catches this season. Their average of 5.1 yards after the catch is middle of the road.

“I don’t think we’ve been terrible” at tackling, Hamilton said. “We’ve just had, in some critical moments, we’ve missed tackles, particularly on third down, that could have gotten us off the field. So if we can improve there, which we will, because our guys care and they work at it ... I only see us growing and continuing to get better each and every game.”