5 big concerns for the Tennessee Titans playoff push

1. Passive defensive play calling combined with defensive back injuries

I have been pretty vocal about this on social media, but I have been very disappointed with the way that Dean Pees has called games over the last month or so.

Let me start off by saying that I have a ton of respect for what Pees has done with the Titans over the last two years, and I know that the defense is dealing with key injuries right now.

Having said that, when you re-watch the Titans/Texans game, it is very clear what Pees was thinking. He made an active decision to sacrifice pass rush and better coverage, in favor of keeping Deshaun Watson from running.

He dropped players back to spy the QB frequently throughout the game and the results were bad. When Watson wanted to throw it, all he had to do was sit back in the pocket and hope that Harold Landry got blocked. If the offense blocked 58, then he didn’t have to worry about a thing except the one time when Kamalei Correa got through.

When Watson wanted to run guess what, he did that too because when you drop back guys in the front seven to spy Watson all he has to do is out run them which isn’t hard for him.

With one or two guys dedicated to spying, Pees wasn’t helping out the coverage for the injured DBs he was just playing with 9 or 10 defenders instead of a full team.

Ever since Ryan Tannehill has really gotten the Titans offense going, Pees has called the defense in order to make teams go on long drives with great execution to score because he hopes that players step up and make plays like Kenny Vaccaro did with his interception.

However, the defense is giving up even more explosive plays than before with this “prevent” style of play calling.

I don’t know what happened to Pees, but he has got to start calling more blitzes and try to disrupt the quarterback. The book on Watson is out there and it is simple, sack him 3+ times in a game and you give yourself a great shot to win.

Sitting back and hoping that he forgets to throw it to Nuk Hopkins or that he decides he doesn’t want to throw in breaking routes to his fast receivers in one-on-one coverage isn’t going to do it.

The argument is, “Well sure, but it only ended up being a 3-point game.” but that doesn’t tell the whole story. The Titans had two red zone interceptions, neither of which were because of any special design, they were just great individual efforts by Kenny Vaccaro, Jeffery Simmons and Jayon Brown.

Can Pees find that aggression that helped Jayon Brown get 6 sacks last year? Or will he just keep hoping guys like Drew Brees and Deshaun Watson make mistakes?