Look – I get it, Titans fans. It’s been a shitty week. That’s not the exit you want from the playoffs after an 11-5 season in which the Tennessee Titans won the AFC South and hosted a playoff game. But, the “fire Mike Vrabel” takes that were raining down on Titans Twitter for the first 48 hours or so after the game were absolutely ridiculous. Thankfully, that nonsense has slowed down a bit as time marches on, but still – I can’t believe that some of you honestly felt compelled to share that. “Fire Mike Vrabel and hire Arthur Smith” – “this loss is on Vrabel” – all among the bullshit I read on Twitter after that game.
Vrabel made a questionable decision that is amplified in hindsight. The guy who has been notoriously aggressive for his entire coaching career suddenly had a change of heart because he thought his defense was playing well and wanted to play the field position game. So, he punts on 4th & 2 instead of going for it. I get it – not his best roll of the dice. Not the call I wanted to see. But, to call it grounds for termination? GTFOH.
So many things contributed to that loss. It’s completely rash to pin it all on one decision by one person. You guys want to tout Smith so much, hell – just look at that same drive that resulted in the 4th & 2 punt. Derrick Henry runs for eight yards on first down, then for some reason, the Titans don’t go back to him. We see incomplete passes on 2nd & 2 and 3rd & 2, then the punt. Where’s the criticism of Smith for getting us into that predicament? Are y’all forgetting about Ryan Tannehill‘s interception? What about Kevin Byard taking a horrible angle on Lamar Jackson? Was all of that Vrabel’s fault too?
Shit happens in the NFL. Good teams lose games sometimes.
Now, if you want to look at Vrabel’s failures on the defense over the course of the entire season, I understand the criticism and your reason for concern. It was a clear regression, and it would certainly seem as though Vrabel wanted to try something out with Shane Bowen. It ended in catastrophe, as the Titans were ranked 29th in total defense. Still, I don’t think that’s worth firing the guy over. In his three seasons as the head man in Tennessee, Vrabel’s earned a bit of trust in situations like this.
Think back to his rookie coaching season in 2018 and how critical we were of his being OVERLY aggressive. Going for two against the Los Angeles Chargers in London instead of kicking the extra point and sending the game to OT, for example.
What did he do? He learned from it – he became demonstrably better. Now, we consider him one of the wiliest coaches in the NFL for his understanding of the rule book and his game management. So, there’s reason to think that he can turn this defense around yet.
But aside from that, he hasn’t had a losing season as a head coach yet. Maybe the 2019 Titans arrived a little early, and it feels like a setback for the Titans to get bounced in the wild card round. It’s disappointing. It’s a missed opportunity. Those things are true – but this franchise has still been consistently good under Vrabel, and his trajectory as a head coach is still promising.
This is a bit of a crossroads – we’ve seen a consistent product on the field over the last three seasons, but now, we’ll see how Vrabel handles the adjustments that need to come when you try something and fail, as happened with the 2020 Titans defense.
The last thing you want to be doing is dumping your head coach and starting over yet again.
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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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