Shout out to everyone else who is battling a killer hangover this morning. When shit started going south last night, your boy decided to kill off the rest of his Pickers vodka. Got a little blood orange going with a little blood orange San Pelligrino, or “the Spelly,” as I call it. Livin’ life. Then, there was a shooting in our parking lot and I decided to call it a night instead of banging out this game recap last night. Just felt some really bad energy around me, y’know?
But, lo and behold, I wake up this morning, and it’s time to go to work. We HAVE to talk about this game, guys. It was disappointing to the point of heartbreak. Just a complete and total letdown when the Tennessee Titans had a tremendous opportunity to really put the squeeze on the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC South race.
What’s particularly gut-wrenching about this one is the complete ineptitude the Titans exhibited in all facets of the game. They looked completely outclassed, outmatched, and at times, totally lost. That 5-0 start has quietly turned into 1-3 in a hurry. Life comes at you fast.
There’s really so much that went wrong. The Colts pulled the Titans pants down, stuffed their bare asses in a locker, and went about their day. Just a complete bully job by the rightful AFC South leaders. So, I’ll have to break this one down into different sections to keep it all organized.
Offense
The drops showed up again – AJ Brown had one that would have been a surefire touchdown – one that would’ve put the Titans up 14-3, and perhaps changed the entire complexion of the game. Balls are hitting the ground all too often, making hard for this offense to get into a rhythm.
They also aren’t hitting the deep balls we saw ’em hit a season ago. Those chunk plays just haven’t been there. The offense has grown a little stale in the last couple of games. Ryan Tannehill is getting hit left and right. Last night, he took some shots that looked pretty bad – at one point, I thought it was finally going to catch up to the Titans when Tannehill was lying on his back wincing in pain.
A lack of depth on the offensive line has forced the Titans offense to play a certain way – they’re trying to play action and run bootlegs to get Tannehill away from the pressure, and help alleviate some of the offensive line issues, but the Colts didn’t buy it. Look at that play Denico Autry made BLOWING UP a rollout attempt.
So, you combine all these issues – the drops, the pressure the offense is facing, and it contributes to a lack of explosiveness that we saw from this team a season ago.
I don’t think any series is more indicative of how this offense struggled last night than that series that went: holding on Nate Davis, AJ Brown drop, Anthony Firkser falls down, Stephen Gostkowski missed field goal.
Just BRUTAL.
Defense
Didn’t you finally feel like you had somethin’ going on defense after the Bears game and the offense and special teams let you down in this one? At least a little bit? I don’t think it’s out of line to say the defense was the best unit on the field for the Titans last night.
But, there are STILL schematic issues with this defense that are allowing opposing offenses to tee off. Guys are still lining up 10 yards downfield from their receivers – they’re not pressing guys at all. Colts receivers were running down the field wild and fucking free. A guy as savvy as Philip Rivers is going to spread the ball around and eat that shit up. Nyheim Hines KILLED the Titans defense last night because they routinely gave him space and 6-8 yards to work with. I don’t know what defensive game plan that is, but it doesn’t fucking work.
And when you can eat that shit up, and when you are content to chew up those 6-8 yard gains, you’re going to sustain long drives and make the Titans defense more tired than it already is. It is an unmitigated disaster from a schematic standpoint.
But, then you tune in to the post game press conference and hear Kenny Vaccaro talking about how they’re not executing like they’re being coached to. So, what on Earth is going on?!?! What is the root of this issue?!?! WHY IS IT SO FUCKING FRUSTRATING?!?!
It’s bland, vanilla defense – teams know what the Titans are going to do when they line up. They want to be this tough man coverage team, but it doesn’t seem like guys know what to do. And, the defensive game plan is anything BUT exotic. They aren’t mixing coverages and alignments. They aren’t getting creative with blitzes. This is a teddy bear soft defense.
At least Mike Vrabel admitted during the postgame press conference that pressing receivers is certainly something they can look at. Thanks, coach – NO FUCKING SHIT.
Special Teams
While we’re on Vrabel and company, the decision to bench Ryan Allen after he played pretty well a week ago seems like a total head scratcher. Definitely warrants the criticism that he’s getting. People are calling for the head of Craig Aukerman, and rightfully so. Trevor Daniel was terrible on that shanked punt that netted 17 yards. The punt team as a whole was bad, getting a punt blocked and returned for a touchdown.
And, then there’s Gostkowski with another miss on a makeable field goal. I’m going to quote our good buddy Allan Bell, and say this: “experiment. over.”
Y’all know me, though – I want to add an F-word in there somewhere. Experiment fucking over. It’s time to move on.
Overall, this team is “missing parts” on a regular basis – they just can’t seem to put all of the pieces together at the same time. Until they do, you can’t consider this anything more than a solid team with a low ceiling. This team has ‘bounced from the wild card round‘ written all over it.
Sorry not sorry.
Silver Linings:
- Derrick Henry and Jeffery Simmons are about the only players consistently playing at an elite level this season. You can take pride in that….but nothing else.
- Malcolm Butler made a hell of a play on a key 4th & 1 start. I think he’s playing better than many people are talking about. Admittedly, like the rest of the team, not consistently enough.
- I like Cameron Batson. That is all.
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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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