Here we are once again lamenting how bad the Tennessee Titans are after yet another ugly loss in Week 11 to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
At this point, we can pretty much copy and paste everything we write on a weekly basis, as the Titans have the same issue each and every week.
On Sunday, the Titans’ offense was stagnant, mostly thanks to poor pass protection upfront. As a result, the Titans had the ball for just under 24 minutes and ran just 38 plays.
Meanwhile, the Jaguars ran a total of 69 plays as they did whatever they pleased against the Titans’ lifeless defense.
Tennessee was also littered with self-inflicted wounds via penalties, turnovers (including on special teams) and mental lapses on defense.
Like I said: copy and paste.
We did manage to scrounge up some winners after this pathetic loss, but as you’d expect, the losers were greater in number. Let’s see who fell into what category.
In between: QB Will Levis
Levis was once again done no favors by his offensive line, but there were also instances where he held on to the ball for a bit too long. He also had a turnover on a bad snap from center Aaron Brewer that hit him in the hands.
The rookie made some dangerous throws that should’ve been picked off, but we also saw a flash of what keeps us excited about him on a beautiful deep ball to DeAndre Hopkins.
There wasn’t much to love above Levis’ performance on Sunday, but it remains difficult to give him a complete evaluation on a weekly basis because of the piece of swiss cheese that “protects” him.
Loser: The offensive line
The Titans’ offensive line has lived in the “loser” category for much of the season and its latest performance against the Jags keeps the unit there.
There was once again constant pressure on Levis, and Derrick Henry was routinely met by multiple defenders before he could get going.
Aaron Brewer had multiple bad snaps, one of which resulted in a turnover and eventually points for Jacksonville. Making matters worse, Chris Hubbard exited early with an injury, leaving his status for next week up in the air.
We’ll have to see if the Titans deploy Jaelyn Duncan at right tackle like they did this week, or if they’ll work Andre Dillard back in, assuming he returns from his concussion. Dillon Radunz will definitely factor into one of those spots.
However, regardless of what the Titans do, this offensive line will continue to stink.
Winner: WR DeAndre Hopkins
Per usual, Hopkins was one of the few sources of offense for the Titans after accounting for one of the team’s two scores on a 43-yard touchdown catch off a flea flicker.
He finished with team-highs in catches (four) and yards (59), and he became the 40th player in NFL history to record 75 receiving touchdowns while also simultaneously passing Dallas Cowboys great Michael Irvin for 29th all time.
Loser: The pass-rush
As disappointing as the Titans’ pass-rush has been all season, at least there have been signs of brilliance. There was none of that on Sunday.
Trevor Lawrence could’ve had a picnic in the pocket, as the the Titans managed just one sack and two QB hits. The one sack came from safety Terrell Edmunds when he chased Lawrence out of bounds.
With the pass-rush doing nothing, it was open season on the Titans’ secondary.
Losers: Fulton, McCreary and the secondary
Without the pass-rush, the Titans’ short-handed secondary, which was without Sean Murphy-Bunting, got toasted.
Roger McCreary worked on the outside and was bad in coverage. On top of that, he committed a pair of pass interferences that handed the Jags a pair of third-down conversions and, eventually, points.
Kristian Fulton got burnt on a deep ball against Calvin Ridley and he moved out of coverage to chase after Lawrence on another play, which led to the Jaguars quarterback dumping it off for a big gain to his running back.
It looked like Fulton was turning the corner the last few weeks, but he erased that notion on Sunday.
The entire secondary stunk in Week 11, but Fulton and McCreary were the ones who stood out the most.
Winner: DL Jeffery Simmons
Simmons made some good plays on defense but his most notable highlight came in garbage time when he scored his first career touchdown on a pass from Levis. Unfortunately, nothing Simmons did was close to enough to overcome the team’s overall performance.
Loser: CB Eric Garror
With all the issues the Titans have had in the return game in recent years, simply catching a punt is a win. Sadly, Garror wasn’t able to do that.
The Titans had a miniscule glimmer of hope at the start of the fourth quarter as they prepared to get the ball back down 27-7. But then disaster struck via Garror’s muffed punt that ended up in the hands of the Jaguars.
It looks like it might be back to the drawing board at punt returner once again for Tennessee.
Winner: WR Chris Moore
Along with Hopkins, Moore did his best to try and spark some life into the offense, with the veteran wideout tallying a 38-yard run and 48-yard catch. However, Tennessee only scored on one of those drives. Moore finished tied for the team lead in rushing yards with just one attempt.
They haven’t always led to something, but Moore has been arguably the most consistent source of big plays for Tennessee this season.
Loser: The coaching staff
Mike Vrabel has people calling for his head, and that’s the case even more so with his assistants.
Yes, this roster just isn’t any good and that definitely has to be taken into account, but the coaching staff has made several bad decisions this year and hasn’t had any answers for any of the issues Tennessee faces.
Tim Kelly simply cannot design his way out of the bad pass protection and run-blocking. Shane Bowen has been unable to generate pressure if the front four isn’t getting it done, which is partly a result of his inability to send extra pass-rushers because of the need to have a lot of help in the secondary.
Do I think any of these guys are getting fired? No, but that’s mostly because of Vrabel’s loyalty to his guys. At the very least, all of their seats should be warming up, though.
