Defense Misses Its Chance to Win the Day

With offense short on stars, the defense allowed Jets rookie quarterback Zach Wilson and others to shine.

If ever there had been a game for the Tennessee Titans’ beleaguered defense to make itself useful – to show that it could carry the load for a change – surely Sunday was it.

The Titans entered the contest against the Jets without Pro Bowl receivers Julio Jones and A.J. Brown, and with an offensive line that, though technically healthy, always seems to be a play away from losing two or three starters due to nagging injuries. Sure enough, left tackle Taylor Lewan (undisclosed), left guard Rodger Saffold (concussion) and center Ben Jones (shoulder) spent stretches of Sunday on the sideline.

So, was it too much to ask that the Titans’ defense bring down the hammer, playing against a Jets team that had scored a combined 20 points in its first three games? A Jets team that hadn’t scored a touchdown since Week 1? A Jets team that hadn’t scored a single point in four quarters? A Jets team that hadn’t led for the entire season?

Apparently so, judging from the 27-24 overtime loss to the previously winless Jets at MetLife Stadium.

Tennessee’s defense pumped life into the heart of a Jets offense that was ranked 30th overall through the season’s first three weeks and averaged a whopping 6.7 points per contest. This after that defense had put together six-plus straight solid quarters – stifling Russell Wilson and Seattle in the second half and overtime of Week 2, then holding Indianapolis to 265 yards in a Week 3 victory.

But the performance against the Jets tends to make the showing against the Colts seem more a product of a gimpy Carson Wentz and a depleted Indianapolis offensive line than it was an impressive outing by the Titans’ defense.

“Hats off to the Jets,” safety Kevin Byard told media in New Jersey. “Zach Wilson is a great quarterback. I think he’s going to be a great quarterback going forward in this league.

“We just didn’t make the plays need to make. We’ve got to be more consistent … In these types of games, we needed to play better than their defense and we didn’t do that.”

It’s understandable for Byard to say Wilson is going to be a great quarterback in this league, considering the second overall pick of the 2021 draft is uber talented. The fact of the matter, though, is that Wilson had been anything but great in his first three games, throwing an NFL-high seven interceptions and posting a miserable quarterback rating of 51.6.

His numbers look a lot better after he hit on 21 of 34 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns versus one interception, good for a quarterback rating of 97.1. Was this the coming of age for Wilson or was he helped by a defense that just couldn’t stop him when necessary?

“We knew we needed to try to affect him,” coach Mike Vrabel said. “He was athletic and could avoid the rush. Guys were going, just didn’t get him down. We had some pressures, he stayed alive, extended the play, got out on the edge.”

The biggest issue for the Titans on defense Sunday? Something that has long been a problem for this team: too many big plays.

That unit surrendered three plays of 30 yards or more – a 54-yard bomb to Keelan Cole, a 53-yard pass to Corey Davis and a 30-yard completion to Davis. The 53-yarder to Davis was a touchdown, while the other two big plays led to 10 points for the Jets. And remember, that big-play total didn’t include a 43-yard pass interference penalty on Dane Cruikshank, nor a 29-yard completion to Jamison Crowder – after Wilson had fumbled the snap from center.

Tennessee has allowed nine plays of 30 yards or more already this season, while producing only three on offense.

“Guys are there,” Vrabel said of the failure to stop big plays. “At least we tried to actually cover them this time. (Against) Seattle we chose to not even put a guy on them. But try to go make a play when the ball is in the air and see if we can tackle the quarterback, not let him scramble around.”

Added linebacker David Long: “I’m not sure whether it’s communication or a brain-fart or whatever it is. I’m not sure why it was (Sunday).”

Berating the Titans’ defense doesn’t mean we’re letting the Titans’ offense completely off the hook. Not by a longshot.

What exactly was the pass-protection problem with the offensive line, one that allowed Ryan Tannehill to get hit a ridiculous 14 times and sacked seven? He’s now been sacked 17 times in 16 quarters this season.

There were other mistakes by the offensive line as well, like the (questionable) holding call on Jones that negated a 14-yard Henry run and killed a drive. Or the illegal use of hands penalty on Lewan (not questionable), which killed another drive. And we can’t forget the bad snap by Aaron Brewer on third down in the red zone, which led to a field goal instead of a potential touchdown.

But the bottom line for the offense – on a day that it played without Jones and Brown – is that one way or another, it still managed to put up 24 points against a pretty solid Jets defense. Derrick Henry still ran for 157 yards. Tannehill still threw for 298 yards and led a game-tying drive in the closing seconds. And Jeremy McNichols still came up with one big play after another, totaling eight catches for 74 yards.

One might have thought that points total would be enough against a Jets team that hadn’t crossed the goal line in two full contests prior to Sunday. It was not.

The good news for the Titans’ defense is that it goes up against a rookie quarterback next week, Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence. That is good news – isn’t it?