Another week, another nail-biting victory for the Tennessee Titans, who suddenly find themselves on a three-game winning streak after getting their shit kicked in by the Buffalo Bills back in Week 2. The Washington Commanders gave them all they could handle, and undoubtedly raised the blood pressure of Titans fans watching at home, as they marched down the field at will before Carson Wentz threw an interception at the goal line with six seconds on the clock to David Long, Jr.. Nashville let out a collective sigh of relief, and the Titans improved to 3-2 on the season.
On one hand, you can’t help but respect the way this team continues to win games in tough, gritty fashion. This is a scrappy, steadfast football team that never seems to panic. As far as an identity goes, that’s a quality you want in your team, for sure. And, credit to the Commanders – they were in a desperate spot at 1-3, so we expected for them to give the Titans their best shot.
But, on the other hand, doesn’t it at least kind of feel like the dam’s going to break one of these days? There were some major question marks around this team heading into this game, and I’m not sure the Titans did anything to answer for them. Down Nate Davis, this offensive line was trash. Montez Sweat absolutely feasted in this game – six total tackles, four of those were quarterback hits, three of those for a loss, and two were sacks. I’m not sure Dennis Daley is going to be landing any longterm starting jobs here. Aaron Brewer was mowed down and overpowered on a play. Nicholas Petit-Frere was called for a false start for the second week in a row, and the Commanders defense just generally had their way with the unit as a whole.
The Commanders also had some big plays in the game – Dyami Brown had a 75-yard touchdown reception, and a 30-yard touchdown reception. The first one gave us the latest instance of Caleb Farley falling down in coverage and giving up a huge play. Farley was benched on the next drive. I’m not sure if it’s mental or what, but he just hasn’t looked like the physically gifted explosive athlete that the Titans drafted in 2021. It seems he’s on a short leash this season the way he keeps ending out of games. The 30-yarder came at the expense of Roger McCreary, who I thought otherwise had a solid game. Even on that play, he was in a good position, but it was an absolute dime from Wentz and Brown made the one-handed snag for the score. Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel, and John Bates all had catches of 20+ yards in this one as well.
Now, for the good shit – the flip side of the terrible offensive line performance…Ryan Tannehill looked like a tough customer once again. He hung around in the pocket and completed a couple of passes that had me holding my breath, one being a 61-yard bomb to elite deep threat, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. He held onto the ball for too long on a couple of occasions that led to sacks, but facing constant pressure, I’d rather him secure the ball than throw one of his signature awful interceptions that would give the Malik Willis bots new life on Twitter.
The Titans defensive front had another big day. While I’d tip my cap to Brian Robinson Jr. for getting back to the football field after all he’s been through this summer, and for picking up some tough yardage for a couple of first downs today, the Titans defense held the Commanders to a total of 43 rushing yards and 2.5 yards per carry. What looked like a liability in the first few games of the season seems to have been shored up big time in the last two games. The Titans hit Wentz seven times, three of those for sacks, and they broke up six passes. Aside from giving up those big plays, this defense held its water, especially in the most pressure-filled moments of the game.
The bottom line: sometimes, you just have to survive and advance. That’s exactly where the Titans are right now. They just have to find ways to get out of these games with a win, and as long as they keep doing that, they’ll have a shot to keep getting better as they start getting healthy. They aren’t losing these games, so they’re going to hang around in the AFC race until they do. They’re currently on top of the AFC South thanks to a Houston Texans win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, and they get a much-needed bye week before they get the Indianapolis Colts for their second game of the season and a chance to really put the squeeze on the preseason division favorites.
Game Balls
- David Long, Jr. – I mean, you have to, right? That interception was one of the most clutch plays I’ve seen a Titan make in a LONG time. Long also deflected a pass and led the Titans in tackles with 11.
- Derrick Henry – It certainly seems that Henry is all they have on offense right now in terms of explosive play potential. He had 132 total yards and two touchdowns in this one.
- Jeffery Simmons – Big Jeff continues to be a factor on this defense. He hit Wentz three times in this one, registered a sack and a half, and tipped a pass.
- Teair Tart – Props to Tart for another fine week with two more tipped passes. He now has five on the season, which leads the team! Your defensive tackle leading the team in PBUs!!!
- Ryan Stonehouse – Stonehouse had a 66-yarder in this game and continues to boot balls to the fucking moon.
- Kristian Fulton – Aside from that bad defensive pass interference call, Fulton played well today, especially in the first half of the game. He was critical in keeping McLaurin, by and large, in check today and forcing Wentz to find other options. Vrabel and Shane Bowen have done a great job of taking away the primary options for an opposing offense on this three-game winning streak, and a guy like Fulton doing his job certainly helps.
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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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