Christopher Hanewinckel/USA Today Sports
By The Numbers: Titans at the Bye
NASHVILLE – There is one number that jumps off the page when you look at the Tennessee Titans as they enjoy their bye week.
Five.
The Titans have five wins. They have five losses. They have played five games at home (they have won three). And they have played five road games (they have won two).
It will take five victories in the final six weeks to surpass their win total from each of the previous three seasons and get them to double digits in that regard for the first time since 2008.
You get the picture. But to understand what the Titans have (or have not) accomplished thus far this season, you have to take a deeper dive into statistics. They might not paint the whole picture, but they provide clarity about what Tennessee needs to do, or needs to do better, over the remainder of the schedule.
To that end, here are some notable numbers:
3 – forced fumbles by cornerback Logan Ryan, which ties the most for anyone from Tennessee since 2007, when defensive linemen Kyle Vanden Bosch and Travis LaBoy each had four. No defensive back during the Titans era (1999-present) has had more than three in a season. He is the only member of the defense with more than one forced fumble this season and one of 12 in the NFL with at least three.
5.5 – yards per play allowed by the defense. That is on pace to match the highest average since 2009. It also should be noted that in this franchise’s seven playoff appearances as the Tennessee Titans (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008 and 2017) opponents averaged no better 5.3 yards per play. Three times that figure was fewer than 5.0.
8 – touchdown passes by quarterback Ryan Tannehill in his four starts, including more than one in three of those four games. Marcus Mariota, who started the first six games, threw just seven touchdown passes and had three games without a single one. Over his seven seasons with Miami, Tannehill’s touchdown pass percentage was 4.2. Thus far with Tennessee, it is 5.9.
14.19 – percent of pass plays on which Titans quarterbacks have been sacked. That is the highest percentage in the league – only four others have allowed sacks on more than 10 percent – and well above 2018, when Tennessee had the league’s fourth-highest sack rate at 10.76 percent. In 2017, the last playoff appearance, that number was 7.06 percent and in 2016 it was down at 5.56 percent.
17 – fourth-down attempts by opposing offenses, which is the most for an AFC defense and second to Minnesota in the NFL. Opponents have converted seven of those tries (six, including each of the last three, have done so at least once), which is a success rate of 41.2 percent. That puts the Titans among the top 10 (10, to be exact) in fourth-down defense and on pace to be better than 50 percent in that regard for the first time in four years.
20 – rushing touchdowns by Derrick Henry (pictured) since the start of the 2018 season. The Titans have just 24 rushing touchdowns total over that span and the only other player with more than one is Mariota (two in 2018). Henry is one of five players with at least eight rushing touchdowns this season. With two more this season he will join Earl Campbell (five times), Eddie George (two times) and Chris Johnson (two times) as the only players in franchise history with 10 or more in multiple seasons.
32.5 – percent on third-down conversions. Only five teams have been worse in that regard and those five (N.Y. Jets, Washington, Denver, Chicago and Cleveland) all have losing records. The only times during the Titans era (1999-present) the offense has done worse on third downs was 2014 (30.1 percent) and 2015 (31.8 percent) and in each case Tennessee finished tied for the league’s worst record.
78.6 – catch rate for Adam Humphries, which is best among the Titans’ wide receivers. The free agent addition leads the team with 33 receptions but has been targeted 42 times, three fewer than Corey Davis, whose catch rate is 62.2 percent, which is actually second among the wide receivers. The last time this franchise had a wide receiver finish a season with at least 25 catches and a catch rate of 70 percent or better was 2003, when Derrick Mason earned a Pro Bowl invitation with 95 receptions on 133 targets (71.4 percent) as the primary target in quarterback Steve McNair’s MVP season.
