We’ve talked a lot about the 2018 Tennessee Titans finding an identity. As it turns out, not having an identity may be their identity. We don’t know what this team is, and maybe the Titans don’t even know what they are. I know regime changes are going to have an effect on a football team, but the swing from 2017 to 2018 has been odd. It almost feels like the Titans are getting worse by the week.
We should’ve known this was going to be a weird season, given how strange that first game against the Miami Dolphins was. But, heading into December, the road to 5-6 has boiled down to two things for me: inconsistency and risk. The team does not appear capable of handling success as evidenced by the fallout from games against the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots. They play up and down to their competition unlike any other Titans team I’ve seen. And, sometimes, it appears as though Mike Vrabel and Matt LaFleur are being aggressive simply to say they’re being aggressive. It’s certainly paid off at times, but it’s also provided some key back breakers as well.
3-1 Start
This team started the season in scrappy fashion. With Marcus Mariota missing time due to injuries, the team had to rely heavily upon backup Blaine Gabbert. They managed, and the defense rose to the occasion. After losing to the Dolphins, the Titans rattled off wins against the Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Eagles. At that point, I had ’em as high as #5 in the NFL in my power rankings. I bought into the hype that this could be a legitimate dark horse for a Super Bowl run. It turns out, that 3-1 start was the best they’d look all season.
2-5 Since
What makes this 2-5 slide even more baffling is that the two wins have come in dominant fashion over current division leaders. They beat the Dallas Cowboys handily on Monday Night Football, and absolutely boat raced the Patriots. I don’t get it. They should have beaten the Buffalo Bills, they should have beaten the Los Angeles Chargers…but they didn’t. The Titans didn’t stand a chance against the Baltimore Ravens or Indianapolis Colts. They could not play with that same sort of survival instinct that they played with through the first four games all season.
During both streaks, there were games the Titans won but easily could have lost and games they lost but easily could have won. At 5-5, I joked that we were 10 games into the season and still knew nothing about the team.
Rolling the dice
2018 has become a tale of two teams. It’s easy to look back and second guess some of the decisions to be aggressive, but you can’t help but wonder if falling short on some of these gambles had any sort of psychological effect on the team. Why was it cool and innovative at 3-1? What could possibly cause them to play so well and follow it up so poorly? Well, because it doesn’t consistently work. The biggest gambles of the season, to me, are highlighted by:
4th down vs. the Eagles – Mariota was as clutch as I’ve ever seen him in overtime against the Eagles. Converting a couple of 4th downs that put them in position to send the game winner to Corey Davis in the end zone. When you’re converting like that, it makes the aggression ballsy – “BDE” as I called it. But, what happens if the luck doesn’t hold up next time?
Going for two vs. the Chargers – The luck didn’t hold up the next time – spoiler alert. With the game on the line, the Titans elected to go for two down 20-19 in London. This is an example of when conventional wisdom should have prevailed – you send the game to overtime and count on your defense to get you the ball back. Everything about this game indicated that was entirely possible. They rolled the dice and came up short in a game they could and should have won.
The Luke Stocker play – 4th down near the goal line…instead of kicking the field goal, you decide to go for it…except….you hand it off to Luke Stocker with no one blocking in front of him. Of course, he gets stuffed, and it’s all we’ve been talking about in Nashville all week.
How else can I put this? It ain’t BDE if it ain’t working, folks, and right now – it’s just not working. Maybe that’s something Vrabel and his staff should focus on improving.
You are what your record says you are
That’s where they are right now – they’re a middle of the road team, at best. What we know now is that there are some major issues along the offensive line, the jury’s still out on Mariota, and the coaching staff is as green as grass. Just seems like a lot of being aggressive for the sake of being aggressive. You don’t call plays unless you think you can win with them, duh, but regardless, there is definitely a place for conservative play in football. I’d like to see more of that wisdom and awareness out of the Titans decision-makers.
Figuring that out could be the next step for the coaching staff, but the personnel needs to be upgraded in a few positions before this team is going to be competing for Super Bowls. It’s on Jon Robinson and company to figure out the whys – why isn’t the team playing better? Why does this team stink right now?
Thankfully, there’s still a path to the playoffs for the Titans, but that window is shrinking by the week. If they’ve shown us anything this season, it’s that they’ll fall somewhere in the middle – we could be looking at 8-8 or worse, folks.
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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