The good and the bad from Titans vs Bears.
The Tennessee Titans played the Chicago Bears in week nine of the 2020 season, and the defense finally stepped up.
However many fans are still hesitant. Was the defense good, or was the Bears offense really bad?
We won’t really know the answer to that until we see whether they can do it consistently but we do know that the Titans defense was better than the Bears offense. That is a good start.
I think it’s safe to say A.J. is now known around the league as a top ten receiver. He showed that Sunday even against a stingy Bears secondary. Going up against guys like Eddie Jackson and Kyle Fuller, and having a great game has got to say something about him as a player.
Ryan Allen, the new Punter that the Titans brought in to help while Kern is out, played well despite looking like he was about to get his punt blocked a few times. He averaged 50 yards a punt on eight punts and that doesn’t include the chemistry he already had with Stephan Gostkowski that dates back to their days with New England.
Jeffery Simmons is molding into the elite talking we all thought he would be. He is getting better every game, but he is also getting smarter. He was a big reason for Desmond King’s fumble recovery for a touchdown, if you have seen the replay then you know he was the one who tracked the screen down from behind. The big guy also nearly had an interception and he had a sack negated by a penalty.
There is some obvious bad too. For example, the pass protection has to be a little better. Yes, they were playing an amazing defensive line, but Tannehill took some tough hits. Quick pressure allowed and drops from the receivers made the offense sputter more than they needed to this week.
All in all, it was a great win for the Titans. A much-needed one at that, coming off of a two-game losing streak.
Let’s get into some of the Individual winners and losers in this game for the Titans.
Titans Winners
Harold Landry III, LB
Harold Landry absolutely balled out Sunday, if you guys didn’t notice. It may be cliche to say that it even goes beyond the stat line, but it is consistently true for Landry.
His pass rush was on point Sunday, and while he only finished with one sack, he also moved Foles off of his launch point consistently and got an intentional grounding call when Foles spiked the ball instead of taking a sack.
Landry was able to attack gaps all across the line with stunts and slants, and the EDGEs finally showed up this week thanks in large part to his ability to dictate where the offensive line put their focus.
While it isn’t his strong suit, Landry wasn’t a liability in the run game at all on Sunday. David Montgomery finished with only 30 yards, and a big part of that can be attributed to Landry’s ability to set the edge and force Montgomery to cut back (usually directly into Jeffery Simmons or DaQuan Jones).
His four tackles were either met at the line or near it, stopping the run. Harold Landry also had a pass deflection that nearly led to an interception from Jeffery Simmons as well as two third down hurries early in the game that set the tone.
He did so much in the game and it didn’t go unnoticed. Landry did what needed to be done like he always does and it makes you realize that maybe Jadeveon Clowney isn’t the EDGE on the Titans doing the most.
Derick Roberson, LB
Here is a guy who many people may not know about, and the fault in that falls squarely on the shoulders of Mike Vrabel who has seemingly done everything possible to keep him from getting his chance this season.
Roberson finished with a high rush rate and made plays all game, though most of them can’t be found in the box score. Whether it was stopping the run, dropping back in coverage or rushing around the edge with his excellent first step, he was consistently someone that popped off the screen.
He even had an assisted sack, that didn’t show up in the box score. Roberson helped Landry take down Nick Foles in the third quarter to force a third and 16 and his path to the QB prevented Foles from even attempting to try to step up and throw the ball away.
That may sound strange to say, but if you watched the game you would know that Foles actually chose to intentionally ground the ball instead of taking a second sack from Landry at one point in the game so Roberson’s presence was important.
Roberson and the rest of the Titans defense stepped up on third downs and forced the Bears to a putrid 2-15 on third downs. One of Roberson’s four tackles were on a third down, forcing the Bears to punt.
Derick Roberson is continuing to make a name for himself on this team, while also bringing the energy.
Titans Losers
Kevin Byard, S
Kevin Byard has had a terrible season for his standards. Usually, around this time of year, Byard already has at least three interceptions and a handful of pass deflections.
In 2017 when Byard made the Pro Bowl and First-Team All-Pro, he had some crazy stats through nine weeks.
Byard had racked up 51 total tackles and six interceptions, along with one fumble recovery. Well, this year just isn’t the same. During his Pro Bowl year, Byard totaled 12 pass deflections in the first nine weeks.
So far this year, Byard has just 39 tackles through nine weeks, with no interceptions and only four pass deflections. What stood out most was the Bears touchdown to really make this game semi-competitive in the 4th quarter where instead of attacking the ball carrier he was flat-footed and got run over for the score.
Not only are his stats down. But Kevin Byard just does not look quite the same. A few times this last Sunday, Byard was not in the right spots. He also had some missed assignments, where his coverage was broken and his man had gotten to the right spots.
Kevin Byard is one of the best safeties in the league every year and has proven it. When his name got left off of a top ten safeties list this off-season, Byard felt disrespected. However, right now he isn’t looking too ten worthy.
Corey Davis, WR
Corey Davis is the definition of inconsistent. Especially at a time where he could get some more shine.
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Last week he had his game and went off. Even after having the big game, the Chicago Bears still treated A.J. Brown like the number one receiver. This means that Corey Davis had a weaker matchup than Brown, most of the time anyway.
Corey Davis finished with zero catches for zero yards, and despite getting chances to make a play he just couldn’t seem to get it done.
He was targeted three times by Tannehill, although it could have been more if he didn’t drop all three including a final pass that would have potentially been a massive gain and a touchdown.
It is hard for the Titans to find out who the number two receiver when Corey Davis can’t be consistent week after week. Twice this season Davis has gone over 100 yards, but each time he failed to really dominate the next week.
Last week Davis had a catch percentage of 80 percent. This week, zero percent. His play just won’t get the job done. Yes, the Titans won. However, on Thursday night against the Colts, the win won’t be as easy.