3 big issues for Titans defense.
The Tennessee Titans sit a comfortable 5-1, a game ahead of the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC South.
Coming off of a year in which the franchise went to the AFC Championship Game, the fast start bodes well for the team’s playoff hopes.
The strong start can be attributed to the high-flying offense led by quarterback Ryan Tannehill. In now a season’s worth of games as the Titans quarterback, Tannehill has done nothing but post one of the league’s most potent and efficient offenses. Tannehill has put together a resume that matches former MVP Patrick Mahomes; it just highlights the impact he has had on the team.
Pair Tannehill with running back Derrick Henry, who has not slowed down after winning the NFL rushing crown last year, and the Titans have opposing defenses scrambling. It’s been the biggest reason for the team’s success this year.
The issues, however, lie on the other side of the ball. The Titans defense has taken a massive step back from last season where the Titans were able to draw crucial stops. The Titans have needed game-winning drives in five of their six games, three of which were played against NFL bottom-feeding teams like the Jaguars, Vikings, and Broncos.
The Titans are dead last in third-down percentage, and it was never more evident against the Steelers this weekend where they gave up 13 out of 18 attempts. At one point in the first half, the Steelers were perfect 8-8 on third downs, which enabled them to go up 27-7. The Titans hold the eighth worst-ranked defense and a middling scoring defense.
If the Titans truly want to contend against the best teams in the NFL for a chance at the Super Bowl, the team must make a few changes. Let’s take a look at what changes need to be made to make the Titans defense better for the second half of the season.
Find a pass rush
Titans arguably made their splashiest move in recent memory with the signing of coveted free agent Jadeveon Clowney. As one of the premier pass rushers in the league, Clowney was expected to come and give the defense a much-needed pass rush. However, Clowney has been a shell of himself through six games.
Pro Football Focus gives Clowney a 72.9 rating so far this year while he got a rating of 87.3. On a much worse defense last year, Clowney was producing at a much higher rate. The pairing of Clowney with Vic Beasley, another free agent acquisition who has not produced at all, has been massively underwhelming.
Clowney has a shockingly disappointing zero sacks and only five quarterback hits, all of which came in the first three games. Outside of the occasional Jeffery Simmons or Harold Landry breakthrough, the Titans are simply not getting to the quarterback. The Titans have just posted seven sacks on the year.
The Titans have been giving up too much time for quarterbacks to sit in the pocket and dissect the secondary. In the remaining schedule, the Titans will still face Philip Rivers, Lamar Jackson, Matthew Safford, and Aaron Rodgers. For the Titans to win those games, it will be essential for the Titans to rattle the QB.
While the easy solution may have been to find a trade partner where a team is looking to offload a player, most of the possible candidates are off the table now with Yannick Ngakoue, Carlos Dunlap, and Everson Griffen all being traded in the last week. Titans could attempt to take a flyer with available aging free agents like Clay Matthews or Terrell Suggs, but those players cannot be expected to add significant impact at this stage of their career.
The best-case scenario for Tennessee is to start dialing up unique blitzes. In the past two seasons, Tennessee saw their best pass rush come from the secondary. Whether it be a corner or safety blitz, the Titans need to start finding a way to lessen the load on the EDGE rushers.
The Titans send blitzes 29.7% of the time but only have hurried the quarterback on 6.3% of the time. In comparison, the Steelers send blitzes 44.3% of the time but get 16% on the quarterback hurries.
In a season in which the NFL has decided to reduce the number of holding calls, teams must find a way to creatively utilize their blitzes and edge rushers. I don’t believe the pass rush talent is available externally so the Titans must rely on internal players and schemes to achieve the same effect.
Stop opposing drives and reduce 3rd down conversion
Inexplicably, the Titans have been horrendous at stopping third downs this season. While under the previous defensive coordinator Dean Pees, Tennessee ranked 16th last season. This year, they are dead last.
Whether it is a short distance or a long third down, the Titans just cannot get off of the field. It’s let to opposing teams staying in games that they should not be in or letting the clock get milked down.
The issue is so confounding that finding a solution is not easy. First and foremost, I think the Titans need to resolve their secondary rotation. Returning Adoree Jackson should help alleviate some of the struggles, but the starting duo of Malcolm Butler and Jonathan Joseph has just not worked. Joseph continues to struggle to keep up with opposing wideouts while Butler has continued to show an inability to force incompletions.
Tennessee spent a second round pick on Kristian Fulton and may need to throw him into the fire more. Fulton showed better promise in the last two weeks and has better coverage skills than Joseph does at this late in his career.
Secondly, the Titans need to play more physically. A lot of the time, the opposing wide receivers are going unchecked at the line. What it enables is having the speedy wide receivers get into a full groove into their routes and inevitably pushes the secondary to play catch-up.
The Titans don’t need to play pressed coverage in all downs, but on short-yardage possessions, Tennessee must force-wide receivers to get physical. The Steelers exposed the Titans, continually with their short-yardage plays. If Tennessee wants to hold up down the stretch, they must get their defense off the field and force 3-and-outs.
Red zone defense
Under Dean Pees, the Titans gave up plenty of yards between the 20-yard lines. Yet, it honestly didn’t matter since Tennessee’s red zone defense was fantastic. Over and over again, they would find ways to force opposing offenses to settle for field goals or create turnovers.
This season is a different story. The Titans are giving up five more points per game this year and it’s coming against weaker opponents. The Texans and Jaguars had their season-high scoring total against us while the Vikings had their second-best showing, all three teams who currently have one win each.
After Pees retired, Tennessee went an unconventional route and split up the defensive coordinator responsibilities between Vrabel and other positional coaches. Vrabel’s one season in Houston as the defensive coordinator was a disaster, to say the least. Thus far into the season, it looks to be trending down as well.
I bring this up to say that at some point, the entire defensive mindset may need a restructure. If Vrabel can stop the bleeding in the red zone, then this is no concern. Otherwise, Vrabel must reflect and think about bringing in someone available or giving a full defensive gameplan to someone else.
In the meantime, Tennessee needs better play from the inside linebackers. Jayon Brown and Rashaan Evans had better games against the Steelers, but have looked much less impressive than last year. Evans has been wonderful as a run-stopping linebacker while Brown has shown an amazing knack for covering the middle of the field. The duo flourished in the red zone in completely taking away the field.
Brown seemed to be deployed in coverage more against the Steelers and that needs to continue. There is talent on this defense, particularly in the secondary and linebacking crew to hold up against passing threats. The Titans have enough on the roster to make the changes and improvements to continue their hot streak.