Mike Vrabel’s stubbornness is hurting Titans badly.
From Day 1 as the Tennessee Titans Head Coach, Mike Vrabel was always going to do things his way. And it was working.
Whether it was sticking his hand in the dirt and lining up against defensive tackles in practice, benching Marcus Mariota and naming Ryan Tannehill the starting QB, or exploiting every nook and cranny of the rule book, Vrabel has been meticulous and unapologetic since becoming the Titans head coach.
And there was a method to the madness. After leading the Titans to the brink of last year’s Super Bowl and a 5-0 start to the 2020 season — primarily in part to the emergence of Tannehill with a couple notable intentional penalties-that-actually-helped sprinkled in — Vrabel was seemingly building a contender in the mold of himself. Resilient, gritty, and disciplined.
His way.
So when the head coach was recently required to make head coach decisions, he kept rolling with what was working. Chief among these decisions was deciding to not replace departing defensive coordinator Dean Pees, sticking with inconsistent kicker Stephen Gostkowski, and replacing replacement punter Ryan Allen with Trevor Daniel after an apparently impressive short week of practice.
After what looked like a bounceback game last week against the Chicago Bears, fans couldn’t help but give Vrabel the benefit of the doubt. Even if they were biting their tongues through it all, it was something fans came to expect with the young coach.
Even though these decisions were made months apart, they all came to a head to devastating effect Thursday night against the Colts. Each backfired on Vrabel and the Titans en route to a 34-17 loss in what could’ve been…should’ve been…an important divisional victory to bring the team to 7-2 and in control of the AFC South.
Instead, the defense was disorganized and undisciplined. Gostkowski missed his eighth field goal of the season and Daniel was directly involved in the game’s two most pivotal plays: a shanked and blocked punt that led to two Colts touchdowns.
Now, the Titans sit with a 6-3 record that feels worse than it looks 6-3, and the Baltimore Ravens are up next on the schedule.
His way.
With defense and special teams — previously a strength — now a completely ruptured Achille’s heel, the head coach will once again be forced to make head coach decisions.
What can be done?
More than anything, what can be done to fix a defense that struggles to, well, play defense? Tackling would be a start. Having defensive backs line up less than 10 yards off the line of scrimmage on 3rd-or-4th-and-short should be up for consideration. Heck, maybe even a blitz here and there could be worth the risk.
Because so far, a defense played Mike Vrabel’s way is certainly not the right way to play defense.
Special teams presents a unique problem, as Gostkowski is not the beginning and end of the kicking woes that have plagued this team for the past year and a half.
However, it does seem time to move on from Gostkowski, who is more reliable from 55 than 35. With the assumed replacement being Giorgio Tavecchio from the practice squad, the kicking nightmare may continue, but cannot get much worse than it currently is.
Daniel should be a one-and-done with the Titans, destined to be a trivia answer that fans can call upon in ten years, hopefully laughing to cover the pain behind the inevitable scar this loss will leave on the 2020 season.
Don’t feel bad for Vrabel, though, as this is how he wants to run this team. His way. With full control over decision making, personnel usage, play-calling, schemes, trick plays, and when this team decides to show up for a big game or crumble in one.
We’ve seen the good that comes from having his fingerprints all over this team. He was deservedly lauded by the national media for his coaching performances in the months of January and September.
Now we’re seeing the bad. It’s definitely not a hopeless, how-will-we-ever-win-a-game-again bad. Rather, it’s the waist-deep-in-quicksand bad. Where if Vrabel doesn’t find the right branch to grab and hold onto soon, it’s only going to get much, much worse.