Titans players disagree with NFL officiating after loss
NASHVILLE — There's no hiding from the fact that the Tennessee Titans played awful against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. But on the defensive side of the ball, was the officiating a contributing factor? After an embarrassing 27-3 loss to the Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, some Titans players and head coach Mike Vrabel […]
NASHVILLE — There's no hiding from the fact that the Tennessee Titans played awful against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. But on the defensive side of the ball, was the officiating a contributing factor?
After an embarrassing 27-3 loss to the Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, some Titans players and head coach Mike Vrabel spoke out in the locker room after the game expressing some frustration with the inconsistency of the officiating.
Tennessee had 8 penalties for 80 total penalty yards on Sunday. Four of those flags came against the secondary in critical moments and extended eventual touchdown drives for the Browns offense.
Titans cornerbacks Sean Murphy-Bunting and Kristian Fulton were each called for defensive holding and defensive pass interference during the game.
SMB and Fulton both got flagged for pass interference on the same second quarter drive. Murphy-Bunting's came on 3rd-and-5 while Fulton's was on a baffling 2nd-and-26. Deshaun Watson would later connect with running back Jerome Ford for a 19-yard touchdown.
In the second half, SMB was called for defensive holding on 4th-and-2. extending the drive for the Browns. Fulton then got his holding call on 2nd-and-11 in the fourth quarter. Once again, both calls led to eventual touchdowns.
After the game, Titans safety Amani hooker acknowledged that the defense needed to play better, but mentioned a couple calls that they wish would have gone their way.
"There was a couple calls here and there that, we'll see how they look on film, but we wish we would have had," said Hooker after the game in Cleveland. "But at the end of the day, we've just gotta play better."
"You've gotta play the game how it's being called," Hooker added. "If they're calling it ticky-tack, then we might have to be a little less aggressive as far as our hand fighting, but if they're going to let us play, that's when we can be a little more physical."
Titans head coach Mike Vrabel said that playing aggressive and physical on defense was part of Tennessee's game plan going in and clearly didn't agree with every penalty that was called.
"Some of them probably, it's judgement," said Vrabel about the officiating. "We wanted to play the game aggressively, play square, and play within the rules. They saw it another way…they obviously saw it a different way."
"That's what I told [the team]. One you might have grabbed him, the other one…it doesn't matter what I think," said Vrabel.
I think Amani Hooker put it best. You have to play the game how it's being called. The Titans may have gone into Cleveland with a plan to be aggressive and physical in the secondary, but after a number of critical calls go the other way, you need to change the way you cover.
Getting beat deep and being forced to close aggressively is also a sure fire way to draw a penalty. That was the case on Fulton's 37-yard pass interference penalty on 2nd-and-26. It's a complete bail out for an opposing offense.
The Titans defense already struggles with allowing explosive plays through the air. Surrendering 30+ yard gains on penalties is a self-inflicted wound that's really difficult to overcome.
Something's going to have to change against the Bengals next weekend. Covering Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd with Joe Burrow throwing to them is even more difficult that dealing with the Browns offense. If the Titans don't clean up their act, it could be another long Sunday afternoon.
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