NASHVILLE — There was no denying the ease with which Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams and rest of the offense for the Green Bay Packers totally eviscerated the defense for the Tennessee Titans in a 40-14 shellacking on Sunday Night Football.
Other than a sack on a fourth down after the Titans had gotten a field goal block taken away from them on a bogus offside call, they were barely close enough for Rodgers to recognize their jersey numbers defensively for the majority of the game.
And there lies the predicament with this 2020-21 Titans squad. They’ve got an offense that is the best we’ve seen in the history of the franchise. And they’ve got a defense that could be among the worst.
I realize it wasn’t a good day offensively for the Titans in Green Bay. Ryan Tannehill was under siege for the majority of the game, made uncharacteristically poor decisions with the ball and Derrick Henry was never able to get into a rhythm. But we’re talking about an offense that still has the possibility of a 2,000-yard rusher, two 1,000-yard receivers and a 4,000-yard passer within reach heading into the final game against the Houston Texans. They’ll bounce back and be fine.
The Titans have a chance to capture their first AFC South division championship since 2008 with a win in Houston on Sunday. They would be 11-5 and would clinch a berth in the playoffs for the third time in the past four seasons. It’s been quite the successful run for the Titans after the better part of the past decade was largely spent in misery for the two-tone blue.
And yet the excitement around the team and the playoffs feels like it’s just not there, and it’s all because of the defense.
Hoping for improvement in the pass rushing department for the Titans at this point has essentially become like a Tennessee Volunteers fan hoping to beat Alabama while Nick Saban is there…..it’s a fruitless exercise. A lost cause. A waste of time.
The Titans have 15 sacks on the season. They had 43 last season. It’s truly a credit to the offense that the Titans are even in this situation where they’re 10-5 with a chance to win the division. ESPN NFL Nation Titans reporter Turron Davenport, who also hosts Nate & TD and Talking with TD here on ESPN 102.5 The Game laid out some stats earlier this week that display just how putrid teams usually are with sack totals like the Titans.
#Titans have an NFL worst 15 sacks. Here are the teams/records w/less in a 16 game schedule:
2008 Chiefs (2-14) 10 sacks
2018 Raiders (4-12) 13 sacks
1981 Colts (2-14) 13 sacks
2009 Jaguars (7-9) 14 sacks1979 Broncos had 19 sacks, fewest ever by a playoff team in 16 games.
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) December 30, 2020
It’s perhaps the most difficult Titans team to figure out in recent memory. They have the pieces offensively to compete for a Super Bowl. I don’t think there’s any way to deny that at this point. Tannehill has been fantastic. Henry is one of the most exciting players in the NFL to watch. They have an emerging stud receiver in A.J. Brown. There is a lot to like.
Based on the reaction from Titans fans on social media and on our show on Robby & Rexrode, it feels like Titans fans are almost expecting this season to come crashing to a screeching halt in the playoffs because of the ineptitude of the defense.
One of the most frustrating parts about this Tennessee defense is that we’ve seen some of these players play at a much higher level before. They’ve got a good secondary on paper with Malcolm Butler, Adoree Jackson, Kevin Byard and Kenny Vacarro leading the way. Rashaan Evans showed some flashes last season of becoming a player that you could start to rely on defensively. Jeffrey Simmons has been dominant at times up the middle.
It just hasn’t come together at any point for this defense, and the inability to get to the quarterback is the root of all of the struggles. They can’t defend against the pass consistently because they can’t affect the quarterback, and we learned against Green Bay on Sunday they can’t stop the run consistently either after A.J. Dillon and Aaron Jones battered them for more than 200 yards on the ground.
There’s absolutely no reason or evidence at this point to believe that the fortunes for the Titans are going to improve defensively. So what does that mean? What is the ceiling for this Titans team if that’s the case?
POLL QUESTION: What do YOU think is the true ceiling for the #Titans in January?@RStanleyNHL & @joerexrode are breaking it down in the 7 AM hour today on 102.5 The Game.
— ESPN 102.5 The Game 😷 (@1025TheGame) December 30, 2020
The confidence for another deep playoff run just doesn’t seem to be there among the Titans faithful, and it’s hard to blame them. Jon Robinson and Mike Vrabel have done a lot of good things since taking over their respective positions. This franchise has gone from one of the worst in the NFL to a consistent, stable playoff threat in the past five seasons and both of them have a lot to do with that.
But it’s looking more and more like this season could be remembered as the season where the Titans wasted an elite offense that they’ve been working so hard to build. Between the decision not to hire a defensive coordinator and the whiffs on impact players in the draft and free agency, Robinson and Vrabel stand at the front of the line in terms of responsibility for this atrocity defensively.
Tannehill and Henry have shown no signs of slowing down offensively…..who’s to say that duo can’t continue to be this productive for the next few seasons? But change comes quickly in the NFL. Just ask the Texans. And Titans fans everywhere are hoping that this team’s best chance at a Super Bowl offensively isn’t a waste.
We’re a few weeks…..or perhaps days…..away from finding out.
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