Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Todd Downing came up in conversation on this week’s episode of Football & Other F Words that I was happy enough to record with the guys on Tuesday. Lo and behold, the next morning, Downing was at the podium as the Titans put on a parade of coaches and players in media availability. I gotta give it to the guy – he’s been one of the scapegoats for that loss to the Cincinnati Bengals all offseason, but he stood up there and gave us a couple of telling quotes beyond the usual coach-speak.
Quote 1: “Definitely learned last year that you don’t want to bank too much on one formation because you never know who will be available week to week.“
Quote 2: “Tim Kelly will help look at things in different perspective, bring some fresh ideas.”
I loved reading this shit. I, along with many others on the internet, was hyper critical of Downing’s play-calling at times throughout the season, and namely in that disastrous playoff loss. I thought he was a little too predictable – the Titans offense didn’t get off to good starts regularly, and it felt like it was a clunky process to get into a rhythm. Hell, we heard Mike Hilton mic’ed up in that playoff loss talking about how he knew which play the Titans were going to run, and when to be ready for Ryan Tannehill to throw the ball he inevitably did that was picked off *checks notes* by Hilton…the guy who recognized the play and saw it coming. Those tendencies sucked ass.
But, I don’t think you have to completely blow this offense up either. Just get a little more creative. That’s why I love how he described working with new passing game coordinator Tim Kelly (who we still believe to have the inferior chokeslam to his brother, Dennis). It’s a collaborative effort with Kelly as a resource to come in and just spruce things up. It sure sounds like this Titans regime recognizes its deficiencies as opposed to stubbornly going out there and repeatedly starting Kerry Collins and running the ball 50 times thinking it’ll eventually work like it did when Steve and Eddie were playing. Whoops – what was that last sentence about? Was that me reminding Titans fans that we’ve come a long way already under Mike Vrabel and his staff and we should appreciate that and maybe give this a chance after seeing what the addition of Jim Schwartz did for Shane Bowen on the defense a season ago? I don’t know. I blacked out.
Anyway…tip of the cap to Todd Downing for recognizing this shit and saying it out loud. That’s accountability.
If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to The Unofficial Titans Podcast on Apple Podcasts, follow us on Spotify, or wherever you take in your podcasts!
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
Check out the SoBros Shop. Become a Patron. Give us money for no reason. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Watch on YouTube.
