21-20 Loss Showed That the Titans Still Have Issues on Offense

The Titans offense entered 2022 with a ton of questions, and boy, did they NOT do anything to answer them in yesterday's loss to the Giants.

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To say that the Tennessee Titans lack creativity on offense would be untrue. It never ceases to amaze me how this team continues to put…let’s just say…interesting personnel combinations on the field. We’re going to sign Austin Hooper, trade for Robert Woods, and draft Treylon Burks, but here! Here’s more snaps on offense for Geoff Swaim than any other Titans skill position player! There’s a certain level of creativity in that. The expectation was that all of these new additions (and the hiring of Tim Kelly as the passing game coordinator) would lead to a more dynamic and unpredictable offense. But, in yesterday’s 21-20 loss to the New York Giants, the offense looked anything but. While they found some success in throwing the ball, by and large, it felt like they just couldn’t get into a rhythm and really sustain a drive. Not to mention, it’s less than ideal when the Giants are stacking the box on first down and the Titans decide to run it nonetheless. That’s the same type of thing that drew criticism to offensive coordinator Todd Downing a season ago, and it’s the same type of thing that frustrated Titans fans in the season opener.

Maybe I’m taking it too easy on the defense – they did uncharacteristically allow 238 rushing yards after all. But, I’m willing to be a little more forgiving because they were essentially asked to play a perfect game because of how the offense flamed out after going up 13-0. They struggled with the “wiggle” that Saquon Barkley brought to the open field, and Kristian Fulton made the decision to just stop covering Sterling Shepard on a 65-yard touchdown, but other than that, the defense played about as well as you could’ve asked for. They had a damn good game in the first half, and I wonder how they would’ve held up in the second half had the offense been able to really drain some clock while also putting points on the board (a novel idea).

That’s where it gets tricky – between the play-calling on offense, mistakes, penalties, and whiffs on defense, the truth lies in that it was just a little bit of everything that pitched in on this Titans loss. It wasn’t good enough, and a creative guy like Brian Daboll is going to take advantage of it. It sure seemed like the Giants knew that they had the Titans on their heels when they elected to go for two to win the game instead of kicking the field goal to tie it.

The Titans have to figure things out on offense. Derrick Henry might’ve had a decent enough stat line, but something still doesn’t look quite right with him. There were several times he found some space in the open field and was tackled when that amount of space would’ve meant a touchdown in years past. Listen – I was sitting in the nosebleeds, but there were still times I noticed that Burks was open but Ryan Tannehill wasn’t even looking his way. Woods had one catch for 13 yards. Hooper had one for six yards. Dontrell Hilliard scored two touchdowns, but was off the field for the final drive. For a team that prides itself on identity, it sure didn’t seem to have one yesterday.

Game Balls

  • Ryan Tannehill – Tannehill made a couple of jaw-dropping throws today…stuff that was just timed perfectly and delivered right on the money. They were finding success in the passing game in large part because of how precise and in control #17 was.
  • Kyle Philips – People are going to grill this kid because of the drop and the muffed punt, and look – fair enough. That muffed punt was a body blow. But, it overshadows just how involved Philips was in the offense. He made some clutch plays in the passing game when they needed him. He had a tremendous kick return. The guy was targeted a team-high nine times and turned it into six catches for 66 yards (leading the team). Stock way up!
  • Ryan Stonehouse – This kid could kick a hole in the bottom of a tank.
  • Jeffery Simmons – The Giants had no answer for him in the first half. They couldn’t block him, and it yielded two sacks and drew a few holding calls to boot. This man is going to get PAID!
  • Roger McCreary – As of this writing, I still haven’t had the chance to go back and watch the game broadcast, but I was at the game, and I was deeply impressed by how McCreary answered the bell. He only had two tackles, but what he did won’t show up in the box score. Daniel Jones just didn’t even look his way. He had his guy locked up all day. They put Kenny Golladay on him for a good chunk of the game, and Golladay was only able to amass 22 yards on two catches. McCreary is off to a great start.

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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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