Head coach Mike Vrabel explained why he decided to go for it on fourth down in the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 4.
Easily the most puzzling move by Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel in Week 4 was his decision to go for it on fourth down with the Titans staked to a 24-10 lead over the Atlanta Falcons at the start of the fourth quarter.
It was puzzling because the Titans were facing a chip shot field goal to take a three-score lead with their defense having been dominant all game. They simply didn’t need to go for six in that spot.
Instead, Vrabel decided to try and run the ball up the middle with Derrick Henry, which failed miserably and led to a turnover on downs. Thankfully, the Titans defense bailed Vrabel out on the next drive with a stop of its own.
The Titans head coach explained his decision, per John Glennon of The Athletic.
"“I think that it was just trying to be aggressive. Again, we were kind of playing with house money there with the way the ball had been bouncing around. We felt our defense was playing great and we felt we really could end it there and get going offensively. But we didn’t make it. We didn’t end up converting. A lot of credit to our defense today. There was a lot of talent over there and a lot of really good skill players. Matt Ryan has gotten into a couple of great rhythms the last couple weeks in the second half. We were able to hold them just to the field goal.”"
Vrabel just explained every reason why you don’t go for it in that spot, and having a two-score lead against a dangerous offense like Atlanta’s with an entire quarter to play is anything but playing with house money.
The Falcons can score points in bunches, and quickly. You can’t afford to leave points on the field there, and that’s especially true when those points give you an opportunity to increase your lead by an extra score.
Normally this wouldn’t have been that big of a deal since the Titans won, but this is the second time in two weeks in which Vrabel has made a questionable decision on a fourth down play.
He also left points on the field in Week 3 against the Jacksonville Jaguars when the Titans offense was struggling mightily to score.
After another fourth down failure in Week 4 that could have proved costly had things gone differently, Vrabel seriously needs to re-think his strategies moving forward.