With run stopper Todd Davis no longer on the team, Josey Jewell and Mark Barron will have their hands full taking on last year’s rushing champion, Derrick Henry.
Last time these two teams met in 2019, (when Denver held Henry to 28 yards all game) both Alexander Johnson and Todd Davis were big reasons why Denver’s run defense were so successful against the run. Johnson logged 9 tackles with 1.5 tackles for loss, and Todd Davis notched 7 tackles with a half tackle for loss.
Additionally, their gap integrity helped keep Henry bottled up the entire game. Justin Simmons made a great play below, but it was made possible by Johnson and Davis maintaining their gaps.
This time around, Johnson will be without his running mate in the middle, so the onus is going to be on Josey Jewell and/or Mark Barron to step up, particularly in the running game.
Joe Rowles and I talked about this and other key matchups for Monday’s game on this week’s episode of Cover 2 Broncos. We were also joined by a Titans writer, TreJean Watkins, to get the inside scoop on how the Titans have looked so far in camp. Check it out below.