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Analyzing the post-COVID implications for the Tennessee Titans

By Brady Akins

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 27: Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel stands on the sidelines during the first quarter of the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on September 27, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 27: Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel stands on the sidelines during the first quarter of the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on September 27, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images)
(Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images) /

The Pros and Cons of A Week 4 Bye

13 games in a row, that’s the downside here.

The Tennessee Titans will have to play 13 games in a row.

There’s plenty of data that would suggest that a Week 4 bye isn’t quite as detrimental to good teams as we might typically think. The 49ers, as one example, had their bye week in Week 4 last season before making a run all the way to the Super Bowl. For the right roster, it’s something that can be overcome.

And it’s not that the Titans have the wrong roster, more of the wrong situation. This is already a team that’s been dealing with injuries all season. Vic Beasley was just able to get into the rotation last week, Adoree Jackson has been on the injured reserve since Week 1, and even Taylor Lewan last week was seen dealing with a shoulder injury. Now, that same roster will get one week off before trotting out for 13 straight games.

A stretch that grueling would be tough for any team in any year, but this is 2020. Teams didn’t get a regularly scheduled training camp for strength and conditioning– and the results of that have shown through players dealing with injuries at a historic rate. For the Titans to continue their pace and make it to the playoffs, they’ll need a bit of injury luck.

But it’s not all doom and gloom… I guess. With the team’s bye week coming now rather than later, it gives the Titans’ injured players the chance to bounce back— and the chance to do so before the toughest stretch of schedule they’ll have all season.

Week 4 would have been a match between the Pittsburgh Steelers, a crushing defensive team with one of the best pass-rushers in the NFL in TJ Watt– against a Titans team that might have been without their left tackle in the injured-Lewan. Week 5 shouldn’t be much easier, as the Buffalo Bills fourth-ranked passing offense will be taking the field against a Titans roster that, at least right now, is thin at secondary without Jackson and with rookie Kristian Fulton on the COVID/Reserve list.

Now, Week 4 gives the Titans the chance to catch their breath, get healthy, and shape up ahead of two Super Bowl-caliber opponents.

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