Tennessee Titans need a balance of rookie dominance and veteran consistency

Jeffery Simmons and Jurrell Casey

I don’t really know how else to say it, but in my mind there has been no question about who the best defensive tackle on the Titans roster has been this season. Jeffery Simmons has consistently dominated his matchups in the run game.

Not only that, but Simmons has 2 sacks on 175 pass rushes (1.14% sack rate) while Casey has five sacks on 461 rushes (1.08% sack rate) meaning that with a pretty good sample size that Simmons has been a more productive pass rusher.

Today, Casey needs to work in tandem with Simmons to force the Patriots to fear that Titans defensive line. If either Casey or Simmons fail to win their one-on-one matchups, then the Titans will have to choose whether they want to bring extra pressure or to hope the Pats offense makes a mistake.

Both of these players have the talent, but this is the perfect game for Jurrell Casey to remind everyone why Bill Belichick called him one of the best DTs in the game after their playoff matchup two years ago.

Imagine getting prime Jurrell Casey for just a few games next to Jeffery Simmons who is being used correctly instead of conservatively. My goodness, that line would be so potent that we might see glimpses of dominance from them that we haven’t seen since early this year or late last season.