Just about nothing went right for the Tennessee Titans during their Week 3 loss to the Cleveland Browns that dropped them to 0-2 on the season.
While Tennessee’s run defense was good once again, the pass-rush was unable to finish several sack opportunities and didn’t get enough pressure overall, which further exposed an already shaky secondary that also shot itself in the foot on multiple occasions.
Buy Titans TicketsOn offense, the Titans’ offensive line continues to have issues in run-blocking and pass protection, with left tackle Andre Dillard looking especially lost in the latter area. Also, predictable play-calling continues to be a problem for Tennessee’s offense, and for the run game in particular.
While it’s not time to slam the panic button just yet considering how early in the season it is, there’s plenty of reasons to be concerned about the Titans’ outlook.
Let’s take a deeper dive into what went wrong for the Titans during their Week 3 loss to the Browns.
It's not on Ryan Tannehill
There is no blame to be placed on Tannehill’s shoulders for this one. When he had sufficient pass protection, Tannehill was able to make plays. The problem, of course, is that he didn’t have sufficient pass protection.
Adding to that, he had no support from the run game, which was also stymied thanks to poor blocking and predictable play-calling.
Titans should consider a change at LT (but won't)
It’s fair to point out that the Titans have faced some really good edge-rush duos over the first three weeks while also noting offensive coordinator Tim Kelly has been negligent in not giving his left tackle, Andre Dillard, enough help, something that was especially true in Week 3.
However, it’s also fair to expect more from a pretty well-paid left tackle who has now had three bad games in a row to start his Titans tenure. There’s also no issue with wondering if the Titans can do better than Dillard.
The in-house options start with 2023 first-round pick, Peter Skoronski, who was a damn-good left tackle in college before Tennessee switched him to left guard in his first season. It also wouldn’t be a terrible idea to consider Chris Hubbard, who has been arguably Tennessee’s best lineman over three games.
Whoever they consider, the Titans should at least be thinking about making a switch. But don’t hold your breath for such a move, as this is the same head coach who stuck with Dennis Daley all of last season.
Not enough help
Despite the fact that it was obvious very early on that Dillard was going to have issues with Myles Garrett, the Titans didn’t do nearly enough to help him out and left him on an island far too often.
Kelly and head coach Mike Vrabel have to realize their left tackle just isn’t good right now (and may never be) and must give him more help moving forward, no matter who is lined up across from him.
Big problems for the run game
The Titans have been unable to get Derrick Henry going on the ground through three games, mostly because of poor run-blocking upfront.
But predictable play-calling is also an issue, and that leaves Henry running into loaded defensive fronts that are fully ready to meet him on early downs, something the offensive line just isn’t good enough to overcome.
Adding to that, unsuccessful early-down runs also put the Titans’ offense in far too many second- and third-and-long situations that this offense isn’t equipped to handle, mostly because pass protection has been so poor.
Kelly has to get more creative on early downs to try and help alleviate stacked boxes and put Tennessee in more manageable situations.
Kristian Fulton and the secondary are a major concern
After struggling over his first eight games with the Browns, a matchup with his old AFC South foes was exactly what the doctor ordered for Deshaun Watson, who had his best game with Cleveland on Sunday.
With the pass-rush not getting home, the secondary was getting beaten all game long. Making matters worse, the unit was bailing the Browns out of tough situations with bad penalties that helped extend drives.
Kristian Fulton and Sean Murphy-Bunting were the biggest offenders with drive-extending penalties, and Fulton’s pass interference on a second-and-26 in the second quarter being the most egregious.
Speaking of Fulton: he has looked like anything but a No. 1 cornerback after the first three games. Amari Cooper had his way with Fulton, who was asleep at the wheel on the Browns receiver’s 43-yard touchdown grab in the fourth quarter. Fulton should have given up another touchdown to Cooper but was bailed out by a bad call by the officials.
Fulton has not answered the bell so far in what is a contract year for him, both in terms of his play and ability to stay healthy — and that’s a big problem for Tennessee’s secondary, and defense as a whole.
The pass-rush needs to be better
The Titans notched three sacks on Sunday but should’ve had many more, as the pass-rush failed to finish on a handful of opportunities throughout the game, some of which would’ve thwarted scoring drives.
Unfortunately, the secondary isn’t good enough to holds its own when the pass-rush is average or worse, thus this defense cannot afford all of the missed opportunities we saw on Sunday.
