NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tua Tagovailoa’s game doesn’t seem particularly complicated. But as the Titans prepare to face his Miami Dolphins, they will have some things to figure out.

Tagovailoa and Miami pass over 65 percent of the time on first down because of their anemic run game, one of the things that should make him a predictable pass rush target. But the shifty signal-caller's been sacked only 13 times in 302 dropbacks.

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More remarkably, a quarterback who’s generously listed at 6-foot-one has only had one pass attempt batted down by a defensive lineman near the line of scrimmage all season.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A couple of days after the Titans' loss to the Steelers, Mike Vrabel talked about one play where three defenders missed a tackle on Najee Harris. The result was not the typical problem from such a development.

“They gained a yard,” Vrabel said. “Guys were running. You don’t love the three missed tackles, but you love the swarm.”

Pool photo/ Donald Page, Tennessee Titans

Vrabel’s Titans have always been pretty good about converging on the ball. But in the last three weeks they’ve amped it up in an unmistakable way. In some TV shots that cover half the field and show a play being made on the sideline, it seemed all but a few guys appeared on the screen.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – To ensure the AFC South title resides in Nashville for the second consecutive year, the Titans need to win one of their final two – against Miami and at Houston – or have the Colts lose one of their final two – against Las Vegas or at Jacksonville.

Pool photo/ Donald Page, Tennessee Titans

The odds are in their favor. The New York Times playoff simulator gives them a 99 percent chance of that, with a 69 percent chance of hosting a wild-card-round game and a 24 percent chance of securing the No. 1 seed and the lone first-round bye.

Here are five Titans who need to maintain their recent level or raise their game to help them maximize their position:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – At the onset of the season, it was reasonable to expect a team that had scored nearly 30 points per game to sustain a high level of offense. Get the poor defense up to the middle of the pack and the Tennessee Titans would be much improved.

That was the popular thinking, and thinking I subscribed to.

But the NFL’s unpredictability is its beauty, and a bit of underperformance with a lot of injuries acted as a strong gravitational force on the Titans’ offense this season. We’ve seen some outbursts, but overall, it’s nowhere near what it was a year ago.

Derrick Henry was lost after eight games, A.J. Brown missed four and Julio Jones has been a non0-factor. Lacking in weapons and protection Ryan Tannehill has been a much lesser quarterback.

The scoring is down nearly a touchdown per game and the turnovers are way up, from 12 in 16 games to 25 in 15 games so far.

By BLAKE BEDDINGFIELD, special correspondent

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans’ 20-17 win over the 49ers came down to three things: Turnovers, quarterback play, and coaching adjustments.

The Titans won in all three of those categories.

Pool photo/ Donald Page, Tennessee Titans

The Titans held on and kept the game close, started to find their footing, kept the score close enough and avoided their own turnovers.

The 49ers were outcoached and outplayed.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Third-and-hopeless, it looked like.

The Titans only had 130 net yards and faced third-and-23 on the final play of the third quarter. While the defense had made it so they were in a tied game, things weren’t looking so great.

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Ryan Tannehill saw a flag to his left and stepped up out of trouble, looking to that side first for Julio Jones, then turning his attention to the right and letting fly for A.J. Brown. Brown maneuvered in front of Ambry Thomas, high-pointed the ball, strong-arming it and holding it out as he went to the ground – for Thomas, for the officials, for the crowd, for you, for me.

Forty-two yards. Offsides against Samson Ebukam declined.

That was the peak moment of Brown’s re-emergence, a brilliant performance that catapulted the Titans to a 20-17 win and lifted them to a 10-5 record.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Titans came back to life, beat the 49ers 20-17 with a very late field goal and got their magic number for the AFC South down to one.

We've had much to discuss following their 10th win of the season.

Dillon Radunz played and was better than serviceable -- though let's not throw a parade for a second-round pick finally doing something of substance in Week 16 and Game 15. A.J. Brown re-emerged and was fantastic, serving as the key to Ryan Tannehill's second-half awakening.

The giveaways disappeared and the takeaways showed up again. Nissan Stadium rocked.

Head below the line or to the private Facebook page to rewatch the conversation about all of it.

By BLAKE BEDDINGFIELD, special correspondent

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Thursday night, the Titans will face an offense that has multiple high-level playmakers and a defense that showcases a top outside pass rusher and a very disruptive inside player just like they faced last week against the Steelers.

Defensive end Nick Bosa is a top rusher who can combine very good size, leverage and strength with explosive get-off and the unique ability to rush inside and outside of the tackle with great body lean, pad level while maintain his balance, body control and speed to the quarterback.

Pool photo/ Donald Page, Tennessee Titans

Bosa lines up on the offensive right side and will be matched up with Titans right tackle David Quessenberry.

Quessenberry has struggled most of the season but has had an even tougher time the past few weeks. Now he could be on the left, with both Taylor Lewan (back) and Kendall Lamm (Covid) out.

Bosa will need to be accounted for by multiple Titan blockers.