Is Kevin Byard about to get hot for the Tennessee Titans?

Is Kevin Byard about to shine for the Titans?

Kevin Byard spent a few months on the bench to start his career, but once he earned that starting job there was no looking back. He quickly became one of the most important and productive players on the Tennessee Titans defense.

His ability to patrol the middle of the field made him a constant threat for quarterbacks and you could see his influence even when he wasn’t getting interceptions. Although, it was hard to tell what he was doing when he wasn’t getting interceptions because from 2017-2019 he led the NFL in combined interceptions.

Even in a season with just one interception, he still leads all safeties from 2017-2020 with 18 interceptions (the nearest safety is Harrison Smith with 15).

So why haven’t the interceptions come? Well, a big part of that is because of the scheme that leaves receivers wide open constantly as well as a complete lack of pass rush to force QBs to make boneheaded decisions.

But I don’t want to talk about the interceptions that Byard hasn’t had. Instead, let’s talk about the interception he had last week and what it means for the “Mayor of Murfreesboro.”

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In his career, Byard has had 14 games with interceptions. Those games haven’t been incredibly streaky, but there is a clear trend when Byard gets hot and cold. In games after a Byard interception, here is how long it took him to get his next interception.

If you exclude the first interception in a streak, and if you exclude the interceptions Byard had on the final week of the season, that leaves you with 10 games where Byard recorded an interception with the chance to get a pick the following week. Look at how consistent this has been:

Interception the next game after the interception: 3 of 10 possible

Interception two games after: 4 of 10 possible

Interception three games after: 5 of 10 possible

Interception four games after: 6 of 10 possible

So what does that mean?

What that means is that even if Byard’s interceptions don’t always come in “bunches” once #31 gets going there aren’t many (if any) times where he doesn’t find a way to steal another pass away within the next few games or the next month.

The Titans need everyone to step up their game on defense and you have to know that this is killing the former MTSU star who is now the team’s captain on that side of the ball and one of the elder statesmen in the building.

Forget how it happened, the point is that Byard finally got an interception last weekend and maybe now that the jinx has been broken, there will be a chance for Byard to get another pick before the season is over.

The defense has been brutal, but if the secondary gets a healthy Adoree Jackson back along with a suddenly hot Kevin Byard, maybe this team can actually make a run at the ring behind an amazing offense and an opportunistic defense.

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