The Tennessee Titans dropped their third game over the first five weeks of the 2023 season, losing to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, 23-16.
Tennessee entered the day with a golden opportunity, considering all four teams in the AFC South had identical 2-2 records to start the day. A win would’ve given the Titans a share of first place.
Buy Titans TicketsThis was a demoralizing loss in nearly every possible way. Indy was without its starting quarterback for most of the game, yet the Colts still found a way to move the ball with relative ease, regardless if they tried to pass or run.
This game has naturally led to some overreactions by the fanbase, but it’s also led to some hard truths that it may be time to start accepting as a reality instead of downplaying their overall significance.
This article is going to look at some of the narratives floating around and we’ll discuss which category these particular topics fall under.
Truth: Titans should consider benching Kristian Fulton
I’ll be honest, I would’ve never expected cornerback Kristian Fulton to be this bad coming into the season.
In fact, many of us genuinely believed he was on the verge of a breakout campaign, considering he was in a contract year with a potentially massive payday looming as long as he didn’t turn into a complete liability.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what he’s become, and so much so that head coach Mike Vrabel even admitted that he strongly considered benching Fulton following his second defensive pass interference penalty.
The Titans’ supposed top cornerback entered the day with an overall grade of 40.9 after he allowed 77 percent of the targets thrown his way to be completed on him, per Pro Football Focus.
Needless to say, that horrendous grade won’t be going up after today’s disastrous outing.
We’re rapidly reaching a point where this team has to strongly consider benching their former second-round pick because he’s doing a disservice to the rest of the defense by consistently giving up a combination of big plays and boneheaded penalties.
Only time will tell whether or not that happens, but this a very disappointing possibility the team is currently faced with when Fulton was expected to take that next step in his career.
Overreaction: Titans’ run defense is overrated
Today was a complete letdown by the Titans’ defense. The most surprising part was seeing the run defense get absolutely torched for nearly 200 yards on the ground.
However, that doesn’t mean the Titans suddenly have a bad run defense. It was undeniably a bad game, but if there’s any part of this team that deserves the benefit of the doubt, it’s the run defense.
Entering the day, the Titans had sported an elite run defense for two-plus seasons, and one of the better units of the past 10 years. That reputation doesn’t just get thrown away because of one bad day at the office.
It also can’t be understated how banged up the Titans were upfront. Tennessee was missing Teair Tart due to his toe injury, while Jeffery Simmons got banged up early in the game and was relatively quiet throughout.
Those are the Titans’ two strongest players against the run, so not having one while also having the other one hampered was obviously less than ideal.
If this type of performance continues going forward, then we can have this conversation. But until then, it deserves to be chalked up as an anomaly.
Truth: DeAndre Hopkins is still HIM
Coming into the day, Titans fans had seen glimpses of just how special DeAndre Hopkins could still be, but we were still waiting for that breakout performance.
Well, we finally got the entire DHop experience on Sunday, as he finished the day with eight catches for 140 yards. Hopkins also should’ve had a touchdown grab had Derrick Henry not slightly overthrown him on a trick play in which he barely didn’t get his foot in bounds.
Truthfully, this probably should’ve been Hopkins’ second consecutive game with over 100 yards had he not been slightly overthrown on a potentially massive touchdown reception last weekend.
When given the chance, Hopkins is everything this team could’ve hoped for, and he’s still an elite wide receiver as long as Ryan Tannehill has enough time to get him the ball.
Truth: The Titans are consistently inconsistent
It’s honestly incredible how Tennessee can look like a bona fide contender one week, and then look average, at best, just seven days later. Sadly, that’s been the reality of the situation after the first five weeks of the 2023 season.
The Titans have to find a way to start stacking victories together, otherwise they’re going to be destined for mediocrity. And to be perfectly honest, that’s the absolute worst place to be as a franchise.
Not only does mediocrity stop a team from making the playoffs, it can also prevent a team from picking inside the top 10 in the draft and acquiring a franchise-altering player.
If the Titans to make something of this season, they’ve got to be more consistent moving forward.
