Tennessee Titans: The good, the bad and the ugly – Week 5

Examining the Tennessee Titans’ Week 5 performance against the Buffalo Bills, breaking down what went right and wrong.

Another week of NFL football has ended, and for the Tennessee Titans, it was one that they do not want to remember. Coming into Week 5, the Titans were one of the fastest-moving teams, rankings-wise, in the NFL. After a loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Titans have come crashing down to earth.

The Good

Still Number One in AFC South

Look, if there is any good that can come out of a miserable defeat for the Titans, then it’s the fact that the Titans are still leading the AFC, holding wins over Jacksonville and Houston. That is a very comforting fact, knowing that even with the loss they are still top dogs in the AFC South. Let’s keep that in mind when we get into the bad and the ugly parts.

Everyone Got Home Safe

I like to keep everything in perspective, no one was left at the airport, or left in Buffalo. Everyone is safe in Nashville, and before you ask me, no, this isn’t to just fill space. The Titans had such bad luck in Buffalo that I wouldn’t have been surprised if the trip back would have been bad as well. Thankfully that’s not the case, no Kevin McCallister situation for the Titans.

That’s it. That is all the good the Titans had come out of Week 5 in Buffalo. It’s hard to think that this is where the Titans would be at, but here they are. It’s truly only up from here.

The Bad

I believe that the bad is obvious in Week 5, and I am going to keep this short.

Titans Lose to the Bills

This is that obvious part I was talking about. That headline is a very strange sentence to write, but it is a very real statement. The Titans have proven what has been true for a multitude of years now for themselves, and that is that they play to the level of their competition. The Titans will never be a Super Bowl caliber team if they are not able to handle the light work in the season. I don’t know what the answer is for this team in the future past this season, but my only fear is that they continue this terrible trend. Gone are the days of blowout wins for the Titans; it feels like 100 years since the 1999-2003 teams, when the Titans were always a threat. How much longer do fans have to wait until that return of dominance? That’s the worst part about the loss to Buffalo. If you want to be a contender, you must show it in games like this, and in Week 5 the Titans did not do that.

The Ugly

I told you the bad was going to be short, because this game against the Bills wasn’t bad, it was plain ugly for the Titans. Now, let’s all take a deep breath and jump into this cold water of realizations together.

Nick Williams

If I was like everyone else in Nashville, I would talk about the drop Williams had wide open in the end zone, but I’m not going to be that guy. I want to go to the root of the problem, and ask the question, “Why was Nick Williams in that position?”. I feel no one has talked about this much in Nashville, and it’s the idea that Nick Williams had been dropped by the Titans going into the regular season, a clearly wise move, but they re-signed him during the whole Rishard Mathews debacle. A question for everyone in the class, who was put on to a new team in that same week? Josh “Flash” Gordon.

Gordon was traded for a fifth-round conditional pick, with the condition being that if Gordon was not able to be on the field for any reason other than physical injury, the Patriots would get their pick back. While the Titans were in need of a receiver, they likely didn’t even ring the Browns. How is that possible? The Patriots trade a bag of chips over to the Browns and get Gordon. So, I don’t blame Williams for that drop; the guy should have never been on the field in that position. I blame Jon Robinson for not going and taking a low-risk, high-reward guy in Gordon, who would have not dropped that ball in that situation. Also, Dez Bryant is still out there, why not give him a try?

Personnel Usage At Running Back

I am becoming a broken record on this topic, but every week the Titans force my hand on talking about it, so I will. DERRICK HENRY DESERVES AND NEEDS MORE CARRIES THAN DION LEWIS! If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times: Henry is a volume back and he runs better with more carries; 20-plus carries to be exact, and it truly seems the Titans do not want him to have those carries. In Week 5, Henry had 11 carries or 56 yards at a 5.1 ypc clip on the ground. That stat is enough to show that he needs more volume in games.

His counterpart, Lewis, had 12 carries for 34 yards at a 2.8 ypc number. I really don’t know why the Titans refuse to utilize Henry in a way that he should be used, and it’s almost become appalling. Any other team in the NFL would abuse a guy that is gaining five yards a carry in a game. I really don’t know what else could be said that I haven’t said before about this situation. Also, I see a lot of people on social media talking bad about Henry as a runner, saying he is soft and not a big-time threat in the NFL. That cant be anymore false. The guy still has never gotten his chance to be the runner he can be, and this, just like the Nick Williams drop, goes back to the coaching and the management of this team. Henry must get the ball more, end of story.

I know there was plenty of more to talk about, but I feel these were the main problems that needed to be talked about the most.

Now the Titans will face off against the Baltimore Ravens at home. Those games always tend to be ugly, so I imagine I will be able to talk about a lot more next week. If you want more content, come follow me on twitter @ZacheriahW. Feel free to tell me what you think was good, bad, and ugly for the Titans in Week 5.