Are the Titans wasting their last chance with an elite offense?

How did we get here?

But how? How did the defense, a group as steady as anyone could ask over the past few years,  suddenly collapse? And overnight, from the looks of it. The roster has stayed intact, for the most part. Losing veteran cornerback Logan Ryan was a shot to a secondary with a handful of injuries, but one that should have been offset with the midseason addition of an All-Pro replacement in Desmond King. Star linebacker Jayon Brown being forced out with an injury was a blow to the group as well, but David Long has shown to be more than a suitable replacement.

So, again I ask, what gives? The talent that propelled the Tennessee defense over the past couple of seasons is all still there. Kevin Byard was a star in 2019. Harold Landry, Kenny Vaccaro, and Daquan Jones were all nice players. Jeffery Simmons was… well, actually, Simmons has been as good as his Year Two ceiling stretched in 2020. But across the board, with the exception of the aptly named ‘Big Jeff’ of course, players with positive impacts from previous teams have been non-factors this go-round.

For one final time, I ask, what has happened to the Tennessee Titans defense? It’s been one departure that has sunk the unit as a whole, and one vacancy that still remains as we approach the end of the 2020 regular season. It wasn’t the loss of a player, but rather, the loss of a defensive coordinator– and the lack of a replacement.

Arthur’s 2019 counterpart, his defensive partner in crime, Dean Pees, has left the building. A veteran of the NFL coaching game, a two-time Super Bowl winner as a defensive coach across two different teams had retired from the league and taken his talents away from the Titans. Replacing him with a new coordinator would prove to be a tall task, so naturally, the Tennessee Titans swung for the fences on their new hire and brought in… nobody! Nobody replaced Dean Pees!

Instead, the Titans settled on an amalgam ‘play-calling and defensive show running’ effort between Mike Vrabel, the head coach, and Shane Bowen, the team’s linebackers coach. And, in a personnel decision that contradicted the very essence of the Titans 2020 offseason– the offensive efforts of Arthur’s potential ‘One Last Ride’ might prove to be for naught.

After a run to the AFC Championship in 2019, the writing was on the wall for the Tennessee Titans. They had a championship window thrust upon them, but they had to act fast. Arthur is bound to take off sooner rather than later, Derrick ‘Destroyer of Souls’ Henry is bound to regress at some point soon, as all running backs do (unless Henry turns out to be a Terminator. I’m only 98% sure that he isn’t part murder robot), and the pieces that made up the magical Tennessee run from last season would more or less be gone. So, the Titans made their moves.

They knew Ryan Tannehill was key to what they did on offense in 2019, so they brought him back on a four-year contract. Same story for Derrick Henry. They knew they needed help in the pass-rush, so they brought in Jadaveon Clowney. They knew that right tackle Jack Conklin would be too expensive to bring back, so, they drafted Isiah Wilson in the first round to keep their potent rushing attack moving smoothly (look, not every offseason move was a winner).

But when it came to defensive coordinator, the Titans sat on their hands. Replacing someone like Dean Pees with a coordinator of a similar caliber might have been impossible, but to not even try, all while going all-in across the roster… it’s a move that might keep the Titans as the same team that they’ve been for years. Great on one side of the ball, with the other side holding them back.

The story of Arthur, the Titans’ great offensive mind, will likely end happily ever after. The NFL loves a show on offense, and teams from across the league will likely be tripping over themselves to bring the head of the Titans offense to a new franchise– this time as a head coach. And if he can take a perpetually broken offense like Tennessee’s and turn it into gold, there’s no reason to think that Arthur can’t do it somewhere else too.

But the story of the 2020 Tennessee Titans might not end the same way. Their offensive prowess gives them the chance to advance through the playoffs, so long as they can make every game look like that Patriots v Eagles Super Bowl– but they won’t be getting any favors from their defense. And with potent offenses like the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills capable of keeping pace, and strong defenses like those of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts capable of shutting the Titans down, who knows if this Tennessee season has a storybook ending?

For years it’s been the opposite. If the Titans could get their offense together, watch out, this will be a complete and powerful team from top to bottom. Well now, Arthur has the Tennessee offense running– and maybe for just one more season. After this, he could be gone, and who knows what will become of the Titans’ offense. Maybe they’ll just go back to being the group they’ve always been.

But for right now, the Titans don’t have to worry about that. Right now, they have a team capable of scoring at will. An offense that looks Super Bowl ready.

If only the defense could say the same.