I wrote about it in my weekly ‘keys to victory‘ piece, but there absolutely was a path to a Tennessee Titans victory on Monday night against the Buffalo Bills. Asking an inconsistent offensive line that has struggled to protect Ryan Tannehill, and had subsequently given up the most sacks on the season entering the game, was a lot to ask. Asking the Titans front to get to Josh Allen, force inaccurate throws, and make stops when he took off was a lot to ask. Asking the team to rise up in a big game on the other hand, that’s just par for the course for these Titans under head coach Mike Vrabel, and it may have very well been the key ingredient to the Titans outlasting the Bills 34-31 after a thrilling 4th down stop sealed the game.
We’ve joked about the Jekyll and Hyde nature of this team all season, and how this team can beat anybody in the NFL while simultaneously being able to lose to anybody in the NFL. We’ve now seen that come full circle in 2021, as the Titans surprised the Bills, who many considered to be the best team in the NFL, while also losing to the putrid New York Jets. Bottling up what they had Monday night, and applying it more consistently is definitely an objective the Titans should try to achieve. But, when the lights are on bright, and it matters the most, this Titans team just simply shows up.
The stress was particularly heightened on defense on Monday night. Derrick Henry punched the ball in to go up 34-31, but they left Allen and company just over three minutes on the clock to work with. That put the pressure on the defense to get the stop. On 3rd down, they smacked Allen as he tried to go up and Michael Jordan his way to a first down. Then on 4th down, Jeffery Simmons stuffed Allen behind the line of scrimmage to seal the game. In such a high stakes, high pressure situation, the defense bowed up. In the postgame press conference, Kevin Byard talked about having a team full of fighters and defending every blade of grass. You saw that ‘fight’ mentality on full display on Monday night. You saw the heart there – guys stepped up across the defense in the big moment after playing suspect, inconsistent football all season long. When the moment called for it, this defensive unit scratched and clawed, and made the plays they needed to to get the win.
In that same press conference, Tannehill talked about belief, illustrating that you may say you believe, and you may want to believe, but you actually believe when you continuously put yourself in those situations and come out victorious. He mentioned guys knowing that they were just going to find a way to win. Whatever Vrabel is peddling behind closed doors, it’s working. You can count on this team to show up and play when the vast majority of the football community is counting them out. That’s an important trait for a team. Being able to believe through it all is a characteristic that is a competitive advantage – it’s hard to get it, and it helps this team perform. Props to this coaching staff for instilling it in the players, and props to the players for executing at a level that secures win in the face of defeat. They’ve made it so that you can’t count this team out against anyone.
The Kansas City Chiefs are coming to town on Sunday in another huge AFC showdown. We’ll see if they can keep the energy up and rolling.
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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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