The Tennessee Titans went to Dallas and beat the Cowboys 28-14 in a must-win game on Monday night. Plenty of celebrating all around – the Titans snapped a three-game losing streak, one in which they looked pretty terrible during. They’re back to .500 at 4-4, and they’re right in the thick of the AFC playoff race. A loss and we’d have none of that.
But, the Titans didn’t get off to a good start. The offense surrendered a turnover in each of the first two drives and and the Cowboys made them pay on the first one when Dak Prescott hit Amari Cooper for a touchdown. But, the defense bailed them out (Malcolm Butler‘s bad night aside) when Kevin Byard intercepted Prescott in the end zone later in the second half. The team calmed down, got into a rhythm, and ground out a win from there.
The defense became the number one scoring defense in the NFL after that win, holding opponents to just 17.6 points per game. They’re the fifth best in the league in terms of yards allowed.
Marcus Mariota played one of his better games of the season – going 21/29 for 240 yards two touchdowns, with 32 rushing yards and a score on the ground. We’ll forget about those two fumbles early on. But, it was his command of the offense and his poise throughout the game that was perhaps most impressive.
But, we knew this defense could be really good. Those of us who actually watch the Titans knew that Mariota was capable of a game like that. Those aren’t really surprises. What I wanted to see was this team correct the mistakes they were previously making.
And, we got a small glimpse of progress on that front. The receivers, who have dropped a lot of passes during this three-game losing streak, had to improve. They took a huge step forward on Monday night.
Look no further than the catch rate. Titans pass-catchers were targeted 27 times, and hauled in 21 receptions. But, four of those misses were headed for Corey Davis, who was targeted a team-high 10 times. Everyone else combined to catch 91% of passes thrown their way. Some of those misses were misfires by Mariota, but the larger point being that you just didn’t see that costly drop in this game.
Then number of guys catching passes was also encouraging. Mariota hit nine different guys on Monday night, distributing the ball to five wide receivers, two tight ends, and two running backs.
The utilization of Dion Lewis in the passing game certainly helped. He was the second most targeted receiver on Monday night, hauling in all four of his targets for 60 yards and a touchdown. It certainly seemed like Matt LaFleur dialed back the deep shots and focused more on securing mid-range receptions. They threw several passes to the edge, and tried to hit Davis on several cross routes in the middle of the field. Tajae Sharpe continues to impress on third down, too.
Misdirection in the run game helped Jonnu Smith score on a pitch from Mariota. Cameron Batson was given a larger opportunity as the team’s third most targeted receiver. Big of fan of the UDFA rookie since I saw him back in training camp. Plenty of guys playing safely and stepping up when the team needed them.
They got creative in stabilizing the passing game, and it worked brilliantly. They’re still chasing the 6-3 Houston Texans, but you have to feel that they saved the season from slipping away on Monday night. It just goes to show that if they can fix some of their troubled spots, they’re capable of winning big games. They’ll need to stay on that trajectory in order to defeat the New England Patriots on Sunday.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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