Titans-Colts: Another disappointing loss for the Titans
The Tennessee Titans fell to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5 on Sunday by a score of 23-16. This was a predictable result for anyone familiar with the Mike Vrabel Titans. Feeling good after a big win over a quality team? Time for a disappointing loss against a team you have no business losing to.
The Colts were without 2 of their best defensive players for the entire game, and their rookie QB was out for much of it. Still, Gardner Minshew and his ragtag group of guys you couldn’t pick out of a lineup imposed their will on Vrabel’s defense.
What are the Tennessee Titans good at? Before this week, you would have said stopping the run. After this week? Who knows. You can’t say stopping the run anymore, as the team let Zack Moss scurry for 165 yards and 2 TDs. Moss averaged a whopping 7.2 yards per carry, with the Titans’ defense making the career backup look like Prime Emmitt Smith.
Mike Vrabel is a great coach. Clearly, his players respect him and he has not had much to work with for large swaths of his tenure in Nashville. That doesn’t mean he should be immune to criticism, however. I am sick and tired of the up-and-down rollercoaster that we cannot escape. The Titans will get a win against a good team, and then we as fans start to get excited. Right when we start to feel good, the team goes out and loses to a team they have no business losing to. This is the Mike Vrabel experience. For whatever reason, he cannot get this team to perform consistently. This isn’t me being reactionary, either. This is a trend that has lasted for years now. Vrabel’s teams are unable to win the games they should win.
A pivotal moment in this game came in the 4th when the Titans were trailing by 4. The team was in the red zone and faced a 4th and 1. This should be a no-brainer QB sneak or I-formation with Derrick Henry, right? Well, no. Vrabel & Co. decided to get cute and run out of a shotgun formation. As you can probably guess, it did not even come close to working. Why in the hell do teams insist on running out of the shotgun on 4th down? You have to get ONE freaking yard. Why put yourself further away from the line to gain? It makes no sense. Everybody in Indiana knew Henry was getting the ball there. Just an inexcusable call that changed the game. Also, apparently, everybody forgot that DeAndre Hopkins exists near the end of the game. The star receiver collected 8 catches for 140 yards, only for the team to completely go away from him on the final couple of drives.
Finally, the last thing I will complain about for now: Kristian Fulton is not good. No player on the defense looks lost more frequently than Fulton. I’m really glad that Fulton skipped OTA’s to “train on his own,” this offseason. I wonder what Fulton’s personal training entailed. Because it certainly didn’t involve a lick of film study. I know Vrabel likely doesn’t have a better option, but Fulton needs to be benched anyway. The corner essentially iced the game by letting a wide receiver absolutely truck him then flopping to try and get a call. Instead, it was defensive pass interference and the game was essentially over. This was an absolutely embarrassing performance by Fulton.
I hate this team. I’ll see y’all next week.