Titans players, coaches have no answers for a big defensive problem
NASHVILLE — Over the last month, the Tennessee Titans have played some uncharacteristically poor run defense for a unit that was dominant just one year ago. In 2022, the Titans led the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game (76.9). The year prior, Tennessee was 2nd best in the same category (84.6). But over the last […]
NASHVILLE — Over the last month, the Tennessee Titans have played some uncharacteristically poor run defense for a unit that was dominant just one year ago.
In 2022, the Titans led the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game (76.9). The year prior, Tennessee was 2nd best in the same category (84.6). But over the last four games, the Titans have allowed 159.5 rushing yards per game on nearly five yards per carry (4.95).
The numbers don't lie. That's a big problem. But even more concerning is the lack of answers Titans players and coaches seem to have for those numbers.
Ever since Tennessee was gashed up and down the field by Zack Moss in Indianapolis, the Titans coaching staff has been hammering home the same message: "Set the edge, stay true to your rush lanes, win your matchup, and tackle." But all that preaching hasn't resulted in better production over the last month. The Titans' players keep doing the same old things and they're getting beat in the same old ways.
Four consecutive games of poor run defense would suggest that's more of a norm that an aberration. But across the board, the Titans seem to be in denial about who they are as a run defense (and really a defense as a whole).
Both defensive coordinator Shane Bowen and defensive line coach Terrell Williams cited 5-8 bad snaps against the run that killed the Titans' defense. They pointed to the other, less explosive plays as reasons why the run defense could conceivably correct itself.
"You go back and watch those games, there's 6-8 plays that are killing us and costing us," said Bowen in his Thursday press conference. "The five plays for 84 yards [against the Steelers], you take those out and it's 20 something runs for 80 yards. It's few and far between and we've got to be better on those plays."
There's one problem with this line of thinking. You can't simply eliminate a chunk of 6-8 negative plays. Those plays are part of who you are.
If a Major League pitcher throws nine nearly perfect innings every outing, but makes 6-8 mistakes along the way and gives up home runs, that's a…bad pitcher who gives up runs. If a run defense consistently allows 6-8 explosive runs in a game, that's probably a bad run defense.
You also cannot ignore mistakes just because they are not physical mistakes. Terrell Williams told me the Titans run defense is "totally fine" on Thursday and showed confidence that his group would figure things out. Why is he not worried about it? "It has everything to do with where the mistakes are," said Williams on Thursday. "It's not like we're getting physically dominated, it's just a guy being in the wrong spot here or there or the communication. We're totally fine. If it wasn't good, you'd see panic."
But this, once again, is flawed logic. if your team consistently has players in the wrong spot, fails to communicate, and allows explosive runs, there's plenty of reason to panic. That's the main cause for my concern. This was not one bad game. One, even two bad games can be deemed an anomaly. But the Titans have struggled to contain the run for four straight contests now. Opposing teams are not just running on the Titans with incredible volume, they've also been incredibly efficient.
Williams made a point to emphasize yards per carry when I spoke with him on Thursday. "I think sometimes when you're not a coach or a player, you look and see 100 yards on the stat sheet or 120 or whatever," he said. "For us as coaches, we never look at the total yards, we look at yards per carry, and that to me is where giving up the explosive runs, we gotta fix that part of it. We'll be fine."
So let's look at yards per carry then. Over the last four games, the Titans have allowed 4.95 yards per carry. If you eliminate wide receiver and quarterback runs and focus solely on running backs, that number jumps to 5.1 yards per carry over the last four. Tennessee has allowed 5+ yards per carry to opponents in three of the last four games after allowing it three times in the 33 games before that. This is not your average slump.
According to a stat from ESPN's Turron Davenport, the Titans defense is also 20th in the league in yards before contact per carry (2.5).
It really doesn't matter what stat you look at or which way you frame it. The Titans' run defense has a been a major liability for over a month now, and it's worth being concerned about – especially given the serious financial investment Tennessee has made to numerous defensive linemen.
You can only harp on things like consistency, technique, and fundamentals for so long. If you're so consistently inconsistent, that becomes who you are.
Titans players and coaches may not have answers for how to fix things right now. By the sound of things, I'm not sure they even believe this needs fixing. But if things continue going in this direction, all this talk is going to be real cheap.
Luckily, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are next up on the schedule and the Bucs have a bottom three rushing attack in the NFL. If Tennessee gets gashed on the ground by Tampa, we'll have officially reached a new low.
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Injury updates for Titans vs. Buccaneers.
