Sunday’s game felt like a bit of a revelation – maybe even a miracle, considering the Tennessee Titans turned the ball over three times and still came away with the 25-16 win over the Indianapolis Colts in Nashville. Perhaps most encouraging was the defensive performance. Over the course of the last couple of weeks, this Titans defense has shown marked improvement from where it was in 2020. Defensive coordinator Shane Bowen deserves a slow clap for that game plan on Sunday
We asked about Jonathan Taylor’s lack of carries. Colts claim they had more runs dialed up but Titans had some new defensive looks they hadn’t seen that caused them to check some of those plays to passes. I still find 10 carries appalling when Taylor was starting to gash them. https://t.co/Q4qt4XPFRQ
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) September 27, 2021
Some of the notes about the defense that I jotted down while watching the game included how physical and aggressive they played – they were hitting hard. I noticed specific hits from Dane Cruikshank and Kristian Fulton that looked brutal. Fulton had another stellar day overall – he set the tone early, bringing the heat in tracking down Jack Doyle and forcing an incompletion in the first quarter. Later in the game, he was able to make a tremendous one on one tackle on 3rd down to keep the Colts one yard short of a first down (though they would go for it and convert on 4th down). Along with Cruikshank and Kevin Byard, he helped to gang tackle Zach Pascal to force an incompletion and hold the Colts to a field goal. And, late in the game, he also made a great tackle on Nyheim Hines to keep him in bounds and to keep that clock running. Factor in just how good he’s been in coverage and in breaking up passes, and he has been the MVP of this defense so far.
Then, there were the pressures. The Titans were able to really get the pass rush going, but it wasn’t all stuff that’s going to show up in the box score. Cruikshank came unblocked on a 3rd & 8, delivered a haymaker on Jonathan Taylor, and pressured Carson Wentz into an incompletion. Harold Landry and David Long pressured Wentz into a comical intentional grounding penalty. Denico Autry generated pressure on a 3rd & 13 that forced the Colts to punt after their second 3 & out of the game. Fulton got another pressure in the third quarter, and forced Wentz to sail the ball five feet over Michael Pittman Jr.s’ head. Jeffery Simmons was able to get to the edge and bat down a pass. Ola Adeniyi and Landry absolute kicked Wentz’s shit in on a sack in the 3rd quarter. Though the Titans only had two sacks on the day, they were able to hit Wentz 10 times, and even when they didn’t, they were able to force him into some dumb decisions and dumb penalties.
The coverage was good, by and large. Though he did allow a big play to Pascal late in the day on a snap that he appeared to be injured on, Fulton is unreal. The Titans called upon Breon Borders to step in and play for him while he was out for a couple of plays. The Colts threw at him twice and he didn’t allow a reception, including a play that saw him brilliantly flail out and prevent a completion without making contact with the receiver. Jackrabbit Jenkins was a little underrated, in my opinion – he had a bad penalty, but was TIGHT on Pittman late in the game and prevented a touchdown that would’ve given the Colts new life.
Finally, there was the third down defense. It was the Achilles Heel of this team a season ago, historically bad at that. And, yet the Titans held the Colts to just 3/12 on the day. Titans opponents are just 14/37 on third down for the season, good for 37.8%. But, if you take out the trash ass Cardinals game, the Seahawks and Colts were just 7/24 against this defense. That means the Titans defense is 29.2% on third down over the last two games – no doubt an encouraging trend.
I can’t help but wonder if this is all the result of Shane Bowen shaving his beard last week. I mean, come on – you guys have to admit that the timing is at least a little weird. A coincidence? Maybe. But, I’m not convinced. There’s some real juju in the air about this one.
.@Titans DC Shane Bowen looks a lot different today (right) than he did last week. He said his wife and 4 year old daughter had a sit down conversation with him about the beard. pic.twitter.com/sP1TkTF4Sq
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) September 23, 2021
This is the kind of hard-hitting analysis you come to SoBros Network for. It is my journalistic opinion, based on science and research, that Shane Bowen shaving his beard was the catalyst for this defensive effort, and it had nothing to do with the Titans playing a busted ass quarterback with two bum ankles. We’re going to need Bowen to shave his beard every week moving forward from now on.
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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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