Vrabel, Reich Traded Difference-Making Moves
NASHVILLE – It lacked the drama of Baltimore’s unlikely victory over Detroit and Green Bay’s last-minute rally over San Francisco.
What the Tennessee Titans’ 25-16 victory over the Indianapolis Colts did have Sunday was two head coaches doing what they could to help their teams win.
According to the analytics website EdjSports, Tennessee’s Mike Vrabel and Indianapolis’ Frank Reich combined to make three of the day’s best five coaching decisions, based on the impact on their teams’ chances for victory.
Not included among those five was Vrabel’s choice to attempt a two-point conversion with 12:56 to play and his team ahead by seven. Running back Derrick Henry ran it in for a successful try, which made it a two-score game. It was the first time in five games Tennessee elected to go for two.
“We were thinking about going for it,” Vrabel said. “We thought if we scored, we were going to go for two there. … Try to go up two scores, you know? Try to make it nine, right?”
However, Vrabel’s best decision, at least according to EdjSports,was to go for it on fourth-and-4 from the Indianapolis 41 on Tennessee’s second possession of the contest. That too was successful as Ryan Tannehill completed a pass to Julio Jones for 15 yards. Four plays later, the Titans scored a touchdown and took a 7-0 lead.
That play improved the chances to win by 3.3 percent, according to EdjSports’ calculations.
“It is a very competitive league, and most games are going to come down to the fourth quarter,” Tannehill said. “We have to find a way and believe that we can find a way to win those tough games. Whether we are behind trying to go get the go-ahead score, or (Sunday) where we are ahead and trying to tack on points to make it a two-score game again.
“We have a lot of confidence in each other. … We realize these games are going to be tough battles. Finishing is huge – finishing every play and finishing the game.”
Things got increasingly more difficult at the start of the second half when Reich made the week’s two best decisions in a span of 3:18.
The Colts went for it on fourth-and-1 – and converted – twice on the opening possession of the third quarter. The first was at Tennessee’s 41, and the second was at the 15. The first improved his team’s chances at victory by 4.6 percent and the second by 6.9 percent.
Tennessee’s defense finally held its ground, though, after the second, which made it first-and-goal from the 9. Three straight incomplete passes left Reich no choice but to kick a field goal, which got the Colts within one, 14-13. Still, it felt like a bit of a failure after a 17-play drive with a chance to take the lead was the second of three Indianapolis drives that ended fewer than 10 yards from the goal line.
“Short-yardage defense has to be better,” Vrabel said. “It is about getting lined up, it is about whipping somebody, and it is about making a play. You have to knock somebody back. You have to throw somebody on the ground. That is what short yardage is.
“… We didn’t get any [fourth-down] stops there … third down in the red zone were huge things for us and (Sunday) proved pivotal.”
More so even than Reich’s sound decision-making.
