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The curious case of the Tennessee Titans 2019 special teams

By Brady Akins

CLEVELAND, OH - SEPTEMBER 8: Cairo Santos #7 of the Tennessee Titans is congratulated by Brett Kern #6 after kicking an extra point during the fourth quarter of the game against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium on September 8, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. Tennessee defeated Cleveland 43-13. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - SEPTEMBER 8: Cairo Santos #7 of the Tennessee Titans is congratulated by Brett Kern #6 after kicking an extra point during the fourth quarter of the game against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium on September 8, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. Tennessee defeated Cleveland 43-13. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
(Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

The Bad: Missed Field Goals

For every clutch Brett Kern punt and Joshua Kalu blocked field goal in 2019, there were just as many missed field goals that proved detrimental for the Titans in a handful of games.

Maybe we should have known the kicking game would be cursed from the second the season started. With Ryan Succop, the team’s long-time stalwart kicker on injured reserve to start the season, a little bit of inconsistency could have been expected. But “inconsistent” doesn’t even begin to describe Tennessee’s kicking woes in 2019.

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The problems began with the Titans’ Week One starter at kicker, Cairo Santos, who played well through the first four weeks of the season and then… didn’t play quite as well in Week Five against the Bills. That game ended in a seven-point loss, Santos missed four field goals on four attempts.

In fact, there are a few games that a few made field goals might have flipped on the Titans 2019 schedule. When Succop came back from injured reserve midseason, he went 0/1 on field-goal attempts in a Week 15 game against the Texans, a game the Titans lost by three points. Succop could have nearly made up the difference in the Week Nine Panthers game as well, a ten-point loss where Succop finished 0/3.

Succop was placed on IR once again after the Texans game, but yet another kicker change couldn’t fix the Titans team kicking woes. While the New York Jets finished second to last in the NFL in team field goal percentage at 67.9%, the Titans finished in dead last in the league at 44.4%.

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