Mike Vrabel and the Titans staff are committing a cardinal sin of coaching
NASHVILLE — For a second consecutive game, Mike Vrabel and his Tennessee Titans coaching staff committed a cardinal sin of coaching on Sunday. In a pitiful effort against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Titans coached the game far too conservatively. Tennessee's sideline was playing not to lose more than they were to win, and that mentality […]
NASHVILLE — For a second consecutive game, Mike Vrabel and his Tennessee Titans coaching staff committed a cardinal sin of coaching on Sunday.
In a pitiful effort against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Titans coached the game far too conservatively. Tennessee's sideline was playing not to lose more than they were to win, and that mentality cost them greatly.
After putting training wheels on Will Levis, the Titans lost 20-6 and fell to 3-6 on the season. That essentially removes them from playoff contention in a very competitive AFC.
Allow me to be brutally honest about Sunday's loss. The Titans were soft in Tampa. Soft physically, soft mentally, and soft in their decision making above all else.
Right from the jump the Titans were coaching the game out of fear. On the second possession of the game, a first down sack put Tennessee's offense in 2nd-and-20 and they immediately dialed up the surrender run to Tyjae Spears. It gained two yards and one play later, Ryan Stonehouse was punting the ball away.
On the very next series, Mike Vrabel sent out Nick Folk to attempt a 51-yard field goal instead of letting his quarterback (or running back) make a play on 4th-and-2 from the Bucs' 33-yard-line. You already had one long drive stall out in the red zone. You were leading 3-0 with hopes of jumping out to a two-score lead. You continue to talk about needing to get touchdowns instead of field goals. But when you need two yards to keep a drive alive in opponent territory, you go conservative and take the long field goal attempt (which Folk missed). That's soft.
The Titans would not have the ball in Bucs' territory again in the first half. Imagine that. It's almost like they should have taken their shot at the end zone while they were moving the ball well.
Titans take "play not to lose" mentality into fourth quarter
Later in the game, with just 13 minutes to play, the Titans made one of the most dumbfounding decisions possible. After throwing an incomplete pass that was deflected and nearly intercepted, Tennessee deferred to some predictable and conservative playcalling. With eight players in the box and the defense keying on a run, the Titans handed the ball to Derrick Henry, who was dropped for a significant loss of yardage. Levis then threw an incomplete pass and the Titans took the field goal.
That's right. The Titans took a chip shot field goal on 4th & Goal to make a two score game…a two score game. Tennessee cut the deficit from 14 to 11, which still required them to get a touchdown and have another scoring drive all within the game's final 13 minutes. By the time the Titans got the ball back, the game clock was down to 7:01 and the deficit was back to 14.
Do Mike Vrabel and Tim Kelly make the same decision to go with a conservative run if Will Levis doesn't almost throw an interception on the play before? I doubt it. The Titans emphasize taking care of the football to such an extreme that the fear of throwing an interception in the end zone completely dominates their decision making.
Play it safe. Take your field goal. Lose the game. That's Titans offense in 2023.
I could find a handful of reasons to disagree with that line of thinking, but above all else, that mentality is directly contradictory of who your young quarterback is. Will Levis is an improviser. He has an explosive arm with good athleticism and the moment is never too big for him. Levis takes his shots, makes some mistakes, but also makes some magic happen. By taking away his aggressive approach, you take away a good bit of his playmaking ability as well.
Mike Vrabel, Titans conservative in Pittsburgh
But let's not forget that this isn't the first time the Titans have done this. This is two consecutive games now that Mike Vrabel and Tim Kelly have put training wheels on Will Levis at critical junctures of the game.
Last week on Thursday Night Football in Pittsburgh, Tennessee had the ball in the red zone with one timeout remaining and 30 seconds remaining until halftime. Instead of taking another shot the the end zone or attempt to pick up the first down and extend the drive, the Titans opted to run another surrender draw with Tyjae Spears on third down. Spears was tackled for a short gain and Nick Folk came on to make a 36-yard field goal.
Once again, Tennessee took three points instead of allowing Will Levis to make a play. Seeing as they would go on to lose the game 20-16, I'm sure those four points looked really good in hindsight. But apparently Vrabel and Kelly didn't learn their lesson.
Fast forward to the fourth quarter. With 3:56 remaining in the game the Titans had the ball right around midfield. Trailing by four, this would likely be their last chance to find the end zone and win the game. What did Tennessee dial up? An end around with Treylon Burks, a handoff to Derrick Henry for no gain, and another HB draw fro Tyjae Spears on 3rd down. Because of course they're going to play it safe and take the ball out of Levis' hands in crunch time.
In today’s NFL, you can’t coach games out of fear. You can’t be so afraid to make mistakes that you refuse to take chances. You cannot preach about needing to turn field goals into touchdowns as an offense week after week, but back away from your best opportunities to do just that. Scared money don't make money.
The more freedom you give Will Levis, the more mistakes he will make. But he will also grow from those opportunities. At some point, you have got to let your quarterback play quarterback and live with the results.
A Mike Vrabel coached football team is supposed to be aggressive. They are supposed to bring the fight to you regardless of day, time, and location. But the 2023 Titans continue to look nothing like a Mike Vrabel football team and have abandoned that identity entirely.
If you're going to lose (a lot), you might as well go down swinging. But right now the Titans are sitting in last place in the AFC South, looking up at the final score after each game and wondering what could have been. That's a mentality I just can't get behind.
Where the Titans land in updated NFL Draft Order
Where the Titans could pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
