Sunday’s game was a downright ass whooping in all three phases of the game. The Tennessee Titans looked out of sync, unprepared, and the Arizona Cardinals took advantage of it and dominated to the tune of 38-13. One of the most anticipated aspects of this game was seeing how the revamped defense would perform, knowing they’d be tested early with this deep and explosive Cardinals offense. And, that was a test that the Titans defense failed. I’m not going to argue that they actually played well or that we should just look on the bright side here! To qualify my headline better, I’m just not ready to condemn the defense just yet. I’m not as down on the defense as a whole just yet because I’m willing to withhold judgment until we see what this unit can do when the offense isn’t completely shitting the bed.
Those of you who are SoBros long haulers know that I’m a bad news first kind of guy, so let’s go ahead and address that. There were a couple of troubling tendencies from 2020 that reared their ugly heads again. Namely, that the Titans allowed the Cardinals to convert on 7/13 third downs. That’s 53%, a mark that is actually worse than their historically bad third down defense from 2020. Second, defensive backs were getting beat again, and at times, we saw them line up 10 yards downfield of the guy they were covering. It was deja vu all over again. If those aren’t things that are corrected quickly, sure – we could see the Titans field a terrible defense yet again. But, I think there were some extenuating circumstances in this game that led to some pretty terrible results. Hidden in the shit storm, I think there were a couple of reasons for optimism.
Chief among them – the emergence of Kristian Fulton. He was fantastic – breaking up two critical passes in impressive fashion, he stuck to AJ Green most of the game. He only allowed one reception for a whopping four yards. We’d heard all offseason about how impressive he’s been, and it translated to meaningful game action. Really, I think the defensive backs, as a whole, showed some promise if the pass rush could actually close on a quarterback and not force corners to cover guys for 80 seconds per play.
I’m not as hard on Jackrabbit Jenkins as everyone else has been. You don’t like to see your top corner just outright slip and fall, but come on – that’s not a mistake he’s going to make frequently. Besides, DeAndre Hopkins is one of the best receivers in the game – he’s going to eat no matter who you put out there, and that’s not a problem that’s exclusive to the Titans. Hopkins made a circus touchdown catch that only could’ve been prevented if Jackrabbit could’ve miraculously sprouted five inches taller (leave your jokes in your heads, perverts). I know Elijah Molden was beaten pretty badly on that Christian Kirk touchdown, but aside from that, I thought he showed a lot of promise and the vision of how this team plans to use him looks encouraging. Amani Hooker was just a bit late to the ball on a play that probably should’ve been a pick. And, despite getting beat for a touchdown (on which he had it pretty well covered, mind you), Kevin Byard played a lot better than he did in 2020, getting a pick in the process. You didn’t see it on Sunday because these guys were being asked to cover for forever, but I think there’s reason to think they can clean this sort of stuff up and will improve as the Titans pass rush improves.
So, let’s talk about that pass rush. Man, was it a problem in 2020. Starting off against a quarterback like Kyler Murray provides for an instant trial by fire, and on several occasions, Titans pass rushers just froze. It was incredibly frustrating to watch, as Bud Dupree and Harold Landry were both highly active. It felt like they were routinely in the backfield, disrupting plays. But, they just couldn’t quite close on Murray. Tackling these shifty and maneuverable quarterbacks is the next step for this unit. But, again – allow me to put my optimist glasses back on and say that I think there’s reason to be encouraged that this unit can put pressure on pocket passers and lesser offensive lines. Let’s not forget that the Cardinals have a fairly underrated offensive line, too.
Other highlights worth mentioning, to me, include the five-tackle one-sack performance from Jeffery Simmons, and the solid tackling by linebackers Jayon Brown and Rashaan Evans. All in all, there were a lot of moments on Sunday that had me saying, “damn – that close.” If they can start finishing in the pass rush, and they can get some help from their offense not being completely inept, I think this whole unit is going to look a lot better. There’s a lot of “eye test” evaluation in this one – but didn’t they at least look better than they did last year? Or, am I just insanely optimistic? Regardless, check out our game reaction pod here:
Listen to “Game Reaction: Cardinals beat the Titans, 38-13” on Spreaker.Don’t forget to check out our friends at MANSCAPED, who just launched the new Refined Cologne. Get 20% off your entire order and free shipping with the promo code ‘SOBROSTITANS20’ at checkout.
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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