The Tennessee Titans squandered an opportunity to have a share of first place in Week 5 when they dropped a divisional contest to the Indianapolis Colts, 23-16.
The Colts simply beat the Titans at their own game, with Indy proving to be the more physical team for four quarters, and on both sides of the ball.
Buy Titans TicketsIn what was a major shock, the Colts’ ground game torched Tennessee’s usually vaunted run defense, and while the Titans were able to move the ball through the air for the most part, the offense stalled in the red zone and got nothing from the ground game thanks to poor blocking upfront.
The end result was the Titans once again failing to string together good games and wins, leaving them below .500 and down in the dumps entering Week 6.
It wasn’t all bad on Sunday, but the bad certainly outweighed the good. Here are the biggest takeaways.
The offense was good between the 20s
The run game not withstanding, the Titans’ offense operated well between the 20s in Week 5, with the passing attack moving the ball with relative ease and the pass protection holding up well. Heck, even the run game made a big play, scoring the Titans’ only touchdown on a 19-yard scamper by Tyjae Spears.
Unfortunately, things unraveled in the red zone, where Tennessee was 1-for-4 and only needed to cash in on one more of those trips to get this game into overtime.
Tennessee just missed a touchdown on a pass from Derrick Henry to DeAndre Hopkins on one red zone trip, a Chig Okonkwo penalty spoiled another, and Henry was stuffed on fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter on a play I would have rather seen a pass on, considering the run game’s issues.
In their three losses this season, the Titans are now 1-for-9 in the red zone. Two of those losses were decided by one score.
Run-blocking issues continue
As good as the offensive line was in pass protection, it didn’t offer much in the run game, which has been the most consistent issue upfront this season.
Henry average just 3.3 yards per carry and couldn’t find one yard in that vital fourth-quarter drive where the Titans didn’t convert on fourth down. And, outside of his 19-yard run, Spears averaged just 2.5 yards per tote.
A horrible game for the defensive front
One week after putting relentless pressure on Joe Burrow, the defensive front was nowhere to be found in this game — and in more ways than one.
Even the run defense was awful, with Zack Moss gashing the Titans for 165 yards on the ground, with 117 of those yards coming up the middle. I knew the Titans would miss Teair Tart, but not this much.
Titans should consider benching Kristian Fulton
Fulton was once again a liability for Tennessee, thanks to poor coverage and a pair of back-breaking pass interference flags that helped the Colts’ offense score points. The LSU product didn’t exactly take accountability, either.
It’s clear the Titans should, at the very least, consider benching Fulton in the next game, but I’m not sure we’ll get much better from a Roger McCreary or Tre Avery or whoever would replace him. Still, it’s worth a shot.
DeAndre Hopkins still has it
One of the few bright spots on Sunday was Hopkins, who went ham on the Colts’ secondary in the second half. DHop had his best game as a Titan with eight catches for 140 yards and showed great chemistry with Ryan Tannehill.
Now the Titans need a consistent No. 2 to help out. Outside of Hopkins, Titans receivers had ONE catch for nine yards. Hopefully Treylon Burks can get back, stay healthy, and be the consistent No. 2 Tennessee needs.
Titans are consistently inconsistent
The most consistent thing about the Titans is how inconsistent they are.
One week, the Titans look like they’re going to start putting things together and rip off a bunch of wins. The next, well, they look like they did on Sunday.
As good of a head coach as Mike Vrabel is, there’s just no telling what version of his team is going to show up each week and that has been a problem throughout his tenure.
Hopefully the good version of the Titans shows up in London in Week 6, when Tennessee will take on the Baltimore Ravens
