Earlier this week, Tennessee Titans outside linebacker Arden Key confidently stated that the Minnesota Vikings’ offense was the ones who had to deal with the Titans’ defense in joint practices, “not the other way around.”
Even though the Vikings certainly had some positive moments of their own, it’s clear that Key was mostly on point with his assessment of how the defense would perform this week.
The two teams spent the last few days practicing with each other with reports from both Titans and Vikings media members stating that Tennessee more than held its own.
Whether it was Jeffery Simmons and the defensive line doing their thing or Kristian Fulton and Co. making plays on the back end, Tennessee’s positive momentum on the defensive side of the ball only continued to build during its time in Minnesota.
Titans DT Jeffery Simmons has been a helluva load for the Vikings interior line, and he's chirping. Vikings offense, first and second teams, aren't getting much time to operate.
— Andrew Krammer (@Andrew_Krammer) August 16, 2023
At the conclusion of practice, Key was asked to reflect on the Titans’ defensive performance over the last few days, and he didn’t hold back on his evaluation of how he felt these joint practices went.
“We had a good day (on Wednesday) but it wasn’t up to our standards,” Key said, per Paul Kuharsky. “The coaches got on our ass a little bit, some of the players got on our ass a little bit. Today, we whooped their ass.”
Arden Key and Harold Landry just got to Kirk Cousins. Play had to be whistled dead.
Elijah Molden with the would be sack on the next play.
This just in…..thr #Titans defense is good.— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) August 17, 2023
That last part of the statement might come as a shock to those who chose to base their opinion on a viral video of a singular rep where Key was manhandled by Vikings offensive tackle, Christian Darrisaw.
Christian Darrisaw shut this spin move down 😂
(🎥 @vikesinsider)
pic.twitter.com/FNkES5oNVs— PFF (@PFF) August 17, 2023
However, Key was clearly tired of that narrative being painted, as he subtly posted several clips of him winning his individual matchup with Darrisaw on his Instagram story.
From Arden Key’s IG 😂 think he got tired of getting tagged in that spin move clip pic.twitter.com/0Lb9FGA5AS
— Mike Herndon (@MikeHerndonNFL) August 18, 2023
Key isn’t the only one who felt the defense consistently dominated.
According to Paul Kuharsky, the Titans routinely displayed “pretty pass defense, a consistently disruptive pass rush, and a stout and stingy run defense.”
It’s genuinely hard to understand why so many are downplaying the potential of the Titans’ defense in 2023. All offseason long, there have been some truly outlandish takes when discussing this team that often revolve around someone’s feelings instead of facts.
Throw in a healthy Harold Landry, Denico Autry, while also adding Arden Key, and this pass rush is gonna be lethal.
Anybody who can’t see that is either delusional or extremely ignorant#Titans
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) August 17, 2023
With that said, here are some actual facts about the Titans’ defense heading into 2023:
- The last time Simmons, Harold Landry, and Denico Autry were all healthy and on the field together, they combined for six out of the team’s nine sacks in a legendary playoff performance.
- The three of them also combined for 35.5 of the team’s 52 sacks that year.
- Tennessee finished with the No. 1 run defense in football last season, despite Autry, Landry, and Bud Dupree missing a minimum of five games, and with Simmons essentially forced to play on one foot.
- Adding to that, Tennessee finished the 2022 campaign with the ninth-highest (tied) defensive rushing success rate over the last 10 years.
- The Titans replaced an often-injured Dupree with Key, who tallied 90 pressures, 25 quarterback hits, and 11 sacks since the start of 2021.
- Key finished with an incredibly impressive pass-rush win rate of 23.2 percent last season
I won’t even get into how Azeez Al-Shaair could be on the verge of a true breakout season, Fulton being healthy and motivated (and looking very good this offseason) to maximize his contract year, and Kevin Byard and Amani Hooker remaining one of the best safety tandems in the NFL.
Fortunately, the silver lining when it comes to all of this skepticism is the fact that we’re finally approaching the point where the Titans get to do the talking themselves instead of fans and local media constantly having to defend their name.
If you’re among those who want to act like the Titans’ defense is destined for mediocrity, then by all means, be our guest.
But chances are, unless this team is once again ravaged by injuries, you’re probably going to be in for a rude awakening over these next few months.
