The most concerning thing about the Titans' loss in Buffalo
2022 has not started off the way the Tennessee Titans would have hoped. An underwhelming and heartbreaking loss to the New York Giants at home was somehow one-upped by an embarrassing and negligent performance in Buffalo in Week 2. Concern is beginning to set in in Nashville, and rightfully so. The Titans didn't belong on […]
2022 has not started off the way the Tennessee Titans would have hoped.
An underwhelming and heartbreaking loss to the New York Giants at home was somehow one-upped by an embarrassing and negligent performance in Buffalo in Week 2.
Concern is beginning to set in in Nashville, and rightfully so.
The Titans didn't belong on the same field as the Bills on Monday night, and it was a serious reality check for what a legitimate Super bowl contending team looks like.
The good news? The AFC South is the worst division in football, with the 1-1 Jacksonville Jaguars currently sitting in first place. With the Indianapolis Colts (0-1-1) feeling just as miserable heading into Week 3, the Titans still have a good chance of winning the division, and will be afforded every opportunity to right this ship and turn their season around.
The bad news? Apart from the obvious 0-2 start, the Titans lack of success in the run game feels like it could be a major concern moving forward. What was once the unquestioned identity of this team has turned into a massive question mark, and the Titans may not have the answers they need.
Establishing the Run
In the Titans’ 41-7 loss on Monday Night Football, Titans running back Derrick Henry averaged less than 2 yards per carry for just the second time in the last four seasons.
With 13 carries for 25 yards, Henry’s 1.9 yards per clip was the fourth worst game of his entire career.
Just last year, Henry went over 100 yards rushing in five of the Titans’ first eight games. Even when he went down, Henry’s replacement, D’Onta Foreman, found a way to post 100 yard games in weeks 12, 15 and 17.
Bottom line, the Titans have always found a way to establish the running game, regardless of who’s been in the backfield. That has been the consistent identity of this offense in the Mike Vrabel era, and the one thing they’ve done at an elite level.
Through two games this season, the Titans are now the leastefficient offense in the NFL on designed runs.
So what happened to the Titans runs game? Who’s to blame for all of this?
Unfortunately, I think there’s a whole lot of blame to go around.
Derrick Henry has not been his usual self, lacking the explosive burst Titans fans have become accustom to out of him.
The Titans offensive line has covered up their assignments regularly, but failed to set the edge or create a hole on the interior to get Henry into the second-level clean.
Fullback Tory Carter was not very impressive as a primary blocker against the Bills, especially on toss plays and runs to the perimeter (see video below). That brings me full-circle to the play-calling.
The Titans seem to have fallen in love with running a toss play to Henry to get him outside with the football, and it’s just not working. Three of Henry’s first eight runs in Monday night’s loss were on toss plays, and all three of them went for a loss of yards.
The season is far from over, but if the Titans want any chance of turning things around, they will have to find a way to re-establish the run game. That is what this offense was built for.
If they can’t do that, it may be a long fall in Nashville.
Image via George Walker IV / Tennessean.com-USA TODAY NETWORK
