Titans Defense Shows Playmaking Promise in Loss

On the surface, very little of positive note can be made of the Tennessee Titans blowout week 7 loss at home to the New England Patriots. To an abysmal final tune of 31-13, the (too) gracious hosts failed to make an impact on either side of the ball in spite of this being their first game without (now) former head coach and longtime supposed inhibitor, Brian Callahan.

Yet, even given their 30+ point allowance in the defeat, the Titans' defensive unit - specifically on the line - made a string of impact plays that, at the very least, set them apart from the offense as a sparse potential positive.

A Light Blue Lining

While failing to force a turnover (of which Tennessee had two of their own), the home-team defense tallied four sacks in total and held New England to a sub-50% statistic on third down attempts. Now sure, the Patriots attempted a beefy 12 third downs, to the Titans' 10, but a promising defensive number stands on its own regardless, and Tennessee's simple ability to make a stand now-and-again did just that.

Coming into their seventh game of the season, the Titans had only managed nine sacks as a team through that stretch, previously ranking among the worst in the league in that regard. Their performance against the Patriots, while sporadic, proved that the team is capable of explosive playmaking in getting to their opponents' signal caller.

Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Though unfortunately, as it goes all too often with the Titans franchise, even remotely good things come at a disproportionate cost. Of Tennessee's three untimely injuries suffered against the Patriots - all of which came on defense - two fell upon crucial pieces in the team's pass rush.

Injury Issues

The first of the two to go down was defensive tackle and franchise star Jeffery Simmons; a league-leader at his position in a litany of starring statistics, Simmons' exit and subsequent "Out" degradation on the injury report with a hamstring injury marked the beginning of a bad stretch for a Titans team quickly falling behind.

Next was Dre'Mont Jones, one of Tennessee's go-to EDGE options, who suffered an injury to his leg early in the fourth quarter of the game.

In bittersweet retrospect, the Titans' honorable defensive efforts looks even more admirable in light of their wave of injuries. Going forward, the team can only hope that they'll return these signature pieces and, in the long run, try and replicate whatever it was that generated four sacks in the contest versus New England alone.

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