Tennessee Titans 5 biggest takeaways from the first half of the 2021 season
By Will Lomas
1. Less Mike Vrabel is a good thing
It is a good thing that the Tennessee Titans have the “feel” and “personality” of Mike Vrabel, but after the 2020 experiment, everyone should be able to admit that he has no business calling a defense in the NFL.
To be fair, it is hard to tell exactly what role Mike Vrabel had in the 2020 defense, and that is largely by design. The Titans went through a year where they technically didn’t have a Defensive Coordinator, something that Mike Vrabel insisted wasn’t a big deal.
Fast forward to 2021 where Shane Bowen is being allowed to call his defense and it is night and day. Not only is it exponentially more successful, but it looks different.
While the team rarely blitzes, they constantly stunt and loop with their front four causing confusion and frustration for offensive linemen.
Hey so, #Titans DL Jeffery Simmons had more sacks (3) last night than any TEAM has had against the Rams all season.
— Ran GMC(arthon) (@jlomas72) November 8, 2021
In fact, before last night the Rams only had one game all season where Matthew Stafford was sacked multiple times.
Maybe some of this is from Jim Schwartz or maybe it is all Shane Bowen, but either way, this is clearly not something that Mike Vrabel is capable of, and that is ok. Being a good head coach requires a different skill set than being a good coordinator, and he is in the right place at the top of the food chain.