Tennessee Titans: Adam Gase story smells fishy
By Will Lomas
Was Tennessee Titans DC Dean Pees really that predictable in the first game of the season?
There is an article on The Athletic about Adam Gase and it includes some quotes from Ryan Tannehill to describe him.
Before I talk about the questions I have, this isn’t a reflection on or a criticism of The Athletic or Dan Pompei. Maybe this is all my own misunderstanding or maybe Ryan Tannehill phrased something in a strange way, but there is a quote going around that I don’t understand.
"While studying tape of the Titans last year, Gase picked up on a trend: After achieving a first down on their side of the field, the Titans usually played quarters coverage. He subsequently called for a quarters beater, and the result was a 75-yard touchdown in a Dolphins victory. “There was always something he’d come up with like that, every game,” says Tannehill, who threw the pass."
Clarification on what he is saying
I am reading this as Gase thinking: When opposing offenses are in negative territory and get a first down, the Tennessee Titans play quarters coverage on first down.
That is the only way to read this where it makes any sense at all that Tannehill threw a 75-yard TD, otherwise it would obviously be impossible.
What do you mean studying tape?
Last year was the first year that Dean Pees was the DC for the Tennessee Titans, so there is no “film” to watch on him. He could be talking about watching Pees with the Baltimore Ravens, but that was completely different personnel.
He could also be talking about watching Mike Vrabel call defense with the Houston Texans defense, but that is unclear as well.
So is that a lie?
In all likelihood, it was a mistake and what Tannehill meant to say was that Adam Gase watched film on the game during all the lightning breaks in the middle of the game right?
The 75-yard touchdown pass came in the 4th quarter when there had been at least two weather delays, meaning that players and coaches had literally hours to break down each call that had been made in this game.
So while it isn’t a lie, it is either a weird brag (watching Baltimore’s defense and assuming that is what Pees would do despite no sample size) or something that any coach could and should have done (figured out what the defense was doing in a handful of situational plays).
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The story they aren’t telling you
While this is a neat story and it led to a big play, you know the story they aren’t telling you?
After that touchdown, Adam Gase and the Dolphins failed to get another first down for the entire game. So while Gase may be have found one weakness in the Titan defense, he did it based off of an assumption or a guess with a very small sample size that he was allowed to find thanks to four hours of weather delay.
It shouldn’t distract you from the fact that in that game Miami’s drives looked like this to finish the game:
-Punt
-12 play drive, TD
-Turnover on downs
-End of Half
-Punt
-Punt
-Interception
-Field Goal (from an interception)
-Touchdown (75-yard bomb)
-Interception
-Field Goal (from an interception)
-Punt
I wouldn’t really say that Gase’s offense really won the matchup with the Tennessee Titans defense.