There’s still anger in the air following a disappointing Tennessee Titans loss.
On Sunday, the Tennessee Titans suffered an absolutely embarrassing, horrendous defeat at the hands of the New York Jets. Titan fans, deservedly so, took to social media to vent after that abysmal display. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill spent a large portion of the day lying on his back.
As a matter of fact, through 4 weeks, Tannehill is the most sacked QB in the league. David Quessenberry was awful, and should probably not start another game. Taylor Lewan killed at least three drives with costly penalties or by allowing Ryan Tannehill to get slammed to the turf.
Derrick Henry was awesome again, finishing the day with 33 carries for 157 yards and one touchdown. Keep in mind, that happened WITH the offensive line playing about as poorly as you’ll ever see an NFL line play.
While impressive but also depressing, Jeremy McNichols (a backup RB) was the team’s leading receiver with eight catches for 74 yards. While it’s true that the team was without its leading receivers in Julio Jones and A.J. Brown, there is absolutely no excuse for how anemic the offense was on Sunday.
That’s probably the first thing that most of us thought about when the game wrapped on Sunday. Here are two more takeaways from a nightmare loss that we need to get over and move on from as quickly as possible.
Are there any positives that we can find with the Tennessee Titans defense?
So, what’s going on with the Tennessee Titans’ defense? Here’s a controversial statement. Shane Bowen should be immediately relieved of his duties as the team’s defensive coordinator. Bowen and Mike Vrabel allowed themselves to be outcoached and outplayed by a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback, a rookie signal-caller who had looked atrocious in his previous three starts.
By the way, as has been the case in years past, the Titans are the team on the schedule that every struggling player circles as a potential ‘get right’ game. No one fears this team or its defense.
Bowen and Vrabel’s defense allowed Wilson to throw for 297 yards, easily his career-high. Jackrabbit Jenkins, whose speed has been more ‘turtle’ and less ‘jackrabbit’, got burned repeatedly. To add insult to injury, former Titan Corey Davis collected over 100 yards on the day.
You can give a thumbs up to Denico Autry, Kristian Fulton, and Harold Landry III, but every other player on the Titans’ defense deserves a failing grade.
The special teams unit was also an absolute disaster. With Brett Kern out due to injury, replacement punter Johnny Townsend came in and showed why he was unemployed just three days ago. Randy Bullock had a good day until ultimately missing the would-be tying kick in overtime… Not good!
Maybe the Tennessee Titans’ smartest guy in the room approach isn’t working.
This game should be a wake-up call for Mike Vrabel and company. Many who follow this team have discussed the arrogance of the head coach. His decision to promote internally to fill both the offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator positions on his staff didn’t sit well when it happened. Months later, the criticism has grown louder.
You would be hard-pressed to find anyone that thought these were good hires, and through four weeks, it’s now obvious that they weren’t. Both the offense AND defense are underperforming spectacularly, and the blame should fall on Vrabel’s shoulders.
Jon Robinson is beloved in this fanbase, and rightfully so, but he shouldn’t be blameless. The team’s first-round selection from 2020, Isaiah Wilson, isn’t on an NFL roster, and the first-round pick from 2021 has an injury history longer than a Ph.D. dissertation. Robinson has made some brilliant trades and mid-round picks, but his early-round picks and free-agent decisions have really hurt the team as of late.
Titan fans are tired of hearing the same thing after every loss. “We just have to execute” and “We believe we have the right guys in the building” arguments have gotten stale. The Titans simply must stop acting like they’ve accomplished something. Yes, the team went from perpetual irrelevance to playoff contender in the Robinson-Vrabel era, but can the duo take this team further? Many are questioning whether it’s possible.
This is a fair question. The Titans need to prove they can win the games they are supposed to win. It’s encouraging that the team gets up to play against good opponents, but they can simply not afford to keep having a couple of these games a year where they let inferior opponents steal a win.
If the Titans want national respect, they have to stop losing games like these. The respect will come when the team proves they have gotten over the hump. Can Robinson and Vrabel successfully motivate this team to win games like this? The jury is still out on that one.