Titans heading into bye week
As the Titans head into the bye week their fans get to take a break on what seemed to be the beginning downward slope of a roller coaster. Although the Titans are still sitting comfortably atop the AFC South, there was some cause for concern as the team dropped two in a row to a less than stellar Texans squad and a hot Patriots team. Here are two things we know that could foreshadow the rest of the season.
The Titans need to get healthy
This one’s for all of you who have been living under a rock this football season. It’s no secret the Titans have had insanely bad luck with injuries this year, they recently just broke the NFL record for the highest number of players to take snaps in a season with over 80 different players finding their way onto the field.
Mike Vrabel and his squad continue to preach the “next man up” mentality. This coaching staff deserves immense credit for the way they have pieced together the roster puzzle all year, usually with a solid number of practice squad level players some of whom have made a great impact in multiple games.
The Titans may be able to survive with this type of lineup for the regular season simply due to the fact they are so far ahead in the division, but it will not be sustainable long term especially in the postseason. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine is a good receiver but you’d much rather him be the #3 or #4 option alongside AJ Brown and Julio Jones. Dontrell Hilliard and D’Onta Foreman have proven they can tote the rock but I’m sure fans wouldn’t mind seeing the one-two punch (mainly one) of King Henry and McNichols back on the turf.
Ryan Tannehill cannot win on his own… but can anyone?
Tannehill’s stats are night and day from last year to this year and not in a good way. I’ve often had the argument with a buddy of mine about if Ryan Tannehill is good enough to win a Super Bowl. He says no, I say yes. If you look at the recent Super Bowl winning quarterbacks, they are almost all Hall of Famers. However, I believe this to be a little misleading. My argument here is that quarterbacks alone do not win Super Bowls, at least not always. Take last year’s Super Bowl for example. What was the major takeaway? Sure, one may have been Brady getting another ring, but the reason he got it was the Bucs defense absolutely shutting down the explosive Kansas City offense.
It looks like the Titans have the defense this year to stay in just about any game. When that front four is clicking, they are the best in the league. Let’s not forget that Derrick Henry still has a chance to be back at some point this year and the timeline could match up right around playoff time.
So can Ryan Tannehill win long term or in the playoffs by himself? Probably not.
But I don’t think he has to.
Luckily for Tennessee, they have completed the toughest part of their schedule (on paper that is). They essentially have to survive and cling on to the division lead.
As long as they do that it’s possible things start falling into place for them.