Tennessee Titans suffer a potentially era-ending loss in London
By Will Lomas
The Tennessee Titans started slow in a game that ultimately ended in a 24-16 loss, but things sped up quickly for fans in the fourth quarter or a loss against the Baltimore Ravens.
It is hard to imagine a game with 9 field goals being interesting, and for the most part, you would be right. However, Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill was carted to the locker room after getting hurt on a sack and that means something.
Malik Willis took the field in the fourth quarter after the game was pretty much decided. Before everyone condemns him, there was a slight glimmer of hope at the end of that game.
On one hand, Willis is going to benefit from his box score after a 49-yard screen pass. That play was beautifully executed by Tyjae Spears, Nicholas Petit-Frere, and Peter Skoronski, and it was nice to see a trio of young guys put something together.
On the other hand, Willis was sacked 6 times though two of them were mercifully waved off thanks to penalties from the Baltimore Ravens defense. Some of that is on the pass protection, but a fair amount of it was self-inflicted with Willis running right into defenders.
The jury is still out on Malik Willis, but there is a real chance that Tennessee Titans fans will be seeing a lot more from him going forward.
With a bye week next week and an impotent 2-4 record, the Tennessee Titans are going to have some soul-searching to do. It is almost impossible to imagine this team pulling themselves out of the two-game hole that they dug for themselves after winning just 2 of their last 13 games.
What will the Tennessee Titans do going forward?
While the fan base is divided on Ryan Tannehill, even a healthy Tannehill with a healthy supporting cast probably won't help the Titans close that gap. Knowing that, it would be smart for Mike Vrabel and company to admit that this team needs a rebuild, which is something that the majority of the fan base believed at the end of last season.
At some point, fans have to stop expecting Vrabel to pull this team together because right now there doesn't seem to be a lot of buy-in and the coaches have failed to get any level of consistency out of the team this season. Though they have more talent than teams like the Las Vegas Raiders, Green Bay Packers, Washington Commanders, and Atlanta Falcons, they almost certainly won't finish with a better record.
Are they the most talented roster in the NFL? No, absolutely not, Jon Robinson spent two offseasons making bad decisions that gutted this roster of potential young talent. However, looking at Jeffery Simmons, Harold Landry, Arden Key, DeAndre Hopkins, Derrick Henry, Roger McCreary, Tyjae Spears, Kevin Byard, Sean Murphy-Bunting, etc. this isn't a roster completely devoid of talent.
The best thing for the Tennessee Titans is a complete teardown that improves the Titans draft position, opens as much cap space, and brings in draft picks if they can trade some veterans away. The Ryan Tannehill injury makes that a real possibility whether Mike Vrabel and company intended for it to happen or not.