Tennessee Titans fall from grace has been pretty startling
Some people believed that Mike Vrabel was good enough to get the best out of anyone, but over the last 17 games, the Tennessee Titans haven't even been good enough to average a win per month.
Mike Vrabel’s first season as head coach of the Tennessee Titans resulted in a 9-7 finish in 2018. A year later, the club matched that win-loss record and grabbed a wild card berth. Led by workhorse Derrick Henry, the team orchestrated road upsets of the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens, respectively. The Titans actually owned a 17-7 second-quarter lead in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium before falling to the eventual Super Bowl LIV champion Kansas City Chiefs, 35-24.
The next two seasons resulted in AFC South titles for Vrabel’s club via 11-5 and 12-5 records in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Each time, the team lost its first playoff game, at home no less. That second season, the Titans were the conference’s top seed. They sacked Cincinnati Bengals’ quarterback Joe Burrow nine times and picked him off once. However, Ryan Tannehill threw three interceptions and Vrabel’s team lost at the gun, 19-16.
A season ago, Tennessee dropped its first two games but rebounded to win seven of its next eight contests. After 11 weeks of play, the Titans owned a 7-3 resume, while the Indianpolis Colts (4-6-1), Jacksonville Jaguars (3-7), and Houston Texans (1-8-1) were a combined 8-21-2.
What has Mike Vrabel done for the Tennessee Titans lately?
Since then, Vrabel’s club owns a disturbing 3-14 record. In 2022, that kind of number earned the Chicago Bears the number-one overall pick in the draft. The 3-7 Tennessee Titans are the only team in the AFC South below the .500 mark. They are also the only team in the division who didn’t win their last game. Tennessee is also the only one among the four clubs to not have a divisional victory (0-2) this season.
So, who is responsible for the Titans’ fall from grace? “The performance and the coaching,” said Vrabel earlier this week. “It all falls on me, and I’m excited to get it fixed.”
Rookie quarterback Will Levis has shown promise, but this is a team with many flaws. Not only have the Tennessee Titans forgotten how to win, they have forgotten how to put together a solid offensive effort on the road via nine straight losses.
Vrabel and company play five of their final seven games at home, starting with this week’s clash with the 1-9 Panthers. However, a loss at home to Carolina could really have the buzzards circling Nashville.