Game day: How to watch and 3 things to watch for Lions vs. Titans

(Getty Images)

● When: Sunday, Oct. 27, 1:00 p.m.

● How to watch: Fox (Kevin Kugler/Daryl Johnston/Laura Okmin)

● How to listen: 97.1-FM The Ticket in Metro Detroit or any number of network affiliates around the state.

● Line: Lions -11.5

● Injury report: Detroit has ruled out defensive end Josh Paschal with an illness. It’s related to something that came up during a post-cancer screening, but the defender told MLive there isn’t a long-term concern and he hopes to be back in the lineup next week.

For the Titans, they’ll be without cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, running back Tyjae Spears and linebackers Cedric Gray and Jerome Baker. Additionally, starting quarterback Will Levis and behemoth rookie nose tackle T'Vondre Sweat are questionable for the matchup.

● Officiating assignment: Carl Cheffers’ crew. The longtime head referee had two Lions games last season — the team’s Week 3 victory over the Falcons and the Thanksgiving loss to the Packers. Before that, there was a four-year lull between Cheffers drawing the Lions.

More famously, Cheffers officiated the Lions’ 2015 loss to the Packers, where a questionable late-game face mask penalty against defensive lineman Devin Taylor gave the Packers an untimed down, setting up a 61-yard Hail Mary to win the contest.

● Last meeting: The Lions haven’t played the Titans since 2020, when the playoff-bound opponent scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns, cruising to a 46-25 victory.

Coverage from the week

● Three and Out: Goff's MVP candidacy, Lions' pass rush could both use more

● Dan Campbell laughs off former governor’s “classless” criticism

● Jameson Williams gets suspended, again

● Film review: How the defense stepped up in Hutchinson’s absence

● Film review: Breaking down Jared Goff’s stellar showing against aggressive Vikings defense

● What’s new about the 2024 Titans after offseason overhaul

● Coordinator recap on repairing 2023 defensive flaw and a UDFA turning heads with practice performance

● Exploring a dozen (mostly) realistic pass-rushing trade targets

● Injured CB Emmanuel Moseley is getting close to returning to practice

● Eight thoughts to end the week starting with reckless Williams’ speculation

● Mailbag: Lack of rookie impact, which IR players can help, TE usage and, as always, some trade talk

Three things worth watching

● No Jamo, no problem? Well, we’ll find out soon enough.

Detroit’s loaded arsenal will be without its best source of explosive plays against Tennessee. Of course, not having Williams is something of an old hat after he served a four-game suspension to begin last season.

But this is a little different. In 2024, Williams is entrenched as the No. 2 receiver behind Amon-Ra St. Brown. In fact, there have been weeks when Williams has been the central cog in the passing attack. It will be interesting to see how offensive coordinator Ben Johnson divvies up the snaps and targets.

Sam LaPorta is a natural choice to pick up the slack, but the Titans have been one of the NFL’s stingiest teams defending his position, allowing a league-low 18 catches and zero touchdowns to tight ends in 2024.

On the outside, the workload figures to be spread across multiple options. Tim Patrick, who has been hovering a little under 50% of Detroit’s offensive snaps since debuting in Week 2, could be asked to shoulder a touch more. And coach Dan Campbell strongly suggested veteran Allen Robinson would draw more playing time during Williams’ ban.

It’s difficult to imagine Kalif Raymond not seeing more work, as well, particularly given how well he’s performed the past couple of games. He’s best equipped to replicate the speed and field-stretching ability of Williams.

We could also see the debut of undrafted rookie Isaiah Williams this week. He paced the team in receptions during the preseason after a highly productive college career.

● Detroit’s best remaining edge rusher, Paschal, is out of action this week after something came up on a routine cancer re-check. It’s thankfully not expected to be a long-term issue, but it will require the team to give the roulette wheel another spin this week at that position.

Undrafted rookie Isaac Ukwu started opposite Paschal this week, but was largely ineffective and wasn’t elevated off the practice squad for this one. Instead, two players — Isaiah Thomas and Al-Quadin Muhammad — will make their Detroit debuts.

Thomas is a toolsy talent who the Lions poached off the Bengals practice squad a couple weeks back, while Muhammad is a veteran who once tallied 6.0 sacks in a season for Indianapolis. But the last regular season game for both players came in 2022.

You can also expect to see James Houston, Levi Onwuzurike and rookie Mekhi Wingo take some snaps on the edge of the line. Will someone, anyone step up, or will the onus of affecting the pocket fall on blitzing once again? The linebackers generated 40% of the quarterback pressures and three of four sacks against Minnesota.

● By every measure, the Lions have a top-10 rushing attack, averaging 155.5 yards per game, 4.9 yards per game, while boasting a 46.4% success rate.

That last metric represents consistency, which the Lions lacked in last week’s win over Minnesota. Sure, they rushed for 144 yards and 5.3 yards per carry, but they had one of the worst down-by-down success rates in the league last week at 25.9%. Maybe those under-the-hood struggles aren’t so surprising when you consider Minnesota was one of the league’s best at stopping the run coming into the contest.

Guess what? The same can be said for the Titans. They rank fourth in opposing success rate and are tied for fourth in yards per carry allowed. In some ways, it can be viewed as residual success instilled by current Lions defensive line coach Terrell Williams, who led the Titans’ front the past six seasons.

Without Jameson Williams, the impetus to be efficient on the ground is elevated. Obviously, Goff has been as hot as any quarterback in NFL history the past month, but everything still starts with the ground game for Detroit.

If it is clicking, everything else operates much smoother with the offense.