The Titans' defense was a roller coaster vs. Raiders
After a hot start and an ugly second half, the Tennessee Titans eventually prevailed over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, earning their first win of the season, 24-22. While the Titans offense got shut out in the second half, the Titans defense did just enough to fend off the Raiders' late comeback and secure […]
After a hot start and an ugly second half, the Tennessee Titans eventually prevailed over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, earning their first win of the season, 24-22.
While the Titans offense got shut out in the second half, the Titans defense did just enough to fend off the Raiders' late comeback and secure the win. It only took a roller coaster ride to get there.
The Titans defense did a lot of great things on Sunday. Kevin Byard had a big interception of Derek Carr in the end zone, the Raiders went just 1-for-12 on third down, and LB Dylan Cole had a clutch pass deflection to secure the win on the final two-point attempt.
That's a lot to be proud of, and yet there's an elephant in the room. A big, glaring issue that needs to be addressed.
The Titans defense keeps getting beat deep. They are too prone to the big play. "X-plays", as some call them.
The Titans gave up a total of five explosive plays to the Raiders on Sunday, including three completions to Mack Hollins for 20, 48, and 60. That can't happen.
Somehow, that number could have been even worse had it not been for a couple of errors by Vegas. The Raiders missed a few opportunities to beat the Titans deep, including one pass that wasn't hauled in by Darren Waller, who was running wide open for what could have been a 60-yard touchdown.
This is a similar story to what we saw in Buffalo.
Titans pass rush extremely ineffective at bringing regular pressure while the secondary gets beat deep far too often. Undrafted rookie Tre Avery and Caleb Farley were replaced by newly acquired Terrance Mitchell, who had a rough debut in a Titans uniform.
That situation needs to be figured out immediately.
After the game, Titans safety Kevin Byard told the media that despite the number of explosive plays they surrendered, he was proud of the way the defense responded in the red zone.
"Our red zone defense, we showed up today," Byard said. "Obviously we don't wanna give up x-plays, but when they get down there, we have to get a stop. It was big for us as a defense to get off the field in a red zone."
The Titans defense really does deserve credit for the way they stepped up in the red zone. They had a "bend don't break" mentality all afternoon that wound up being just enough to secure the victory.
That's part of the roller coaster ride that is Titans football in 2022.
That being said, I'm not sure how often the Titans are going to get away with that. Being prone to big plays is playing with fire in the NFL. Not every team is going to miss the big opportunities the way Vegas did on Sunday.
If the Titans don't fix the issues in their secondary and avoid explosive plays going against them, the roller coaster ride might not make it back to the station next time out.
Image via Andrew Nelles / Tennessean.com-USA TODAY NETWORK
