Hitting the Ceiling: Titans DBs Must Improve in Isolated Situations to Maximize Wins
NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans' pass defense gave up the most yards in the NFL last season. Of course, they need to improve. However, if you actually watched each game for the Titans it was clear that the defensive backs struggled in one particular area more than others.
That would be in isolated situations on the sidelines. It was something that bit the Titans at the worst times all season, even in games they won. If the Titans defensive backs don't improve in these one-on-one situations, the Titans can't hit their ceiling.
We have already discussed the three offensive factors in our "Hitting the Ceiling" series including Tim Kelly's offense, second-year playmakers and the revamped offensive line. On defense, we took a look at the Titans' edge rush trio and now we dive into the secondary.
Defensive Backs in 1v1
If we take a trip through the Titans schedule it becomes clear how bad of an issue this was. The Titans' corners routinely lost down the sideline in man coverage. It was an issue from start to finish in 2022.
Let's start in Week 3 of 2022 when the Titans played the Las Vegas Raiders. Little-known NFL veteran Mack Hollins exploded for career highs in catches(8) and yards(158) that included a near-game tying touchdown and a 60-yard explosive. Hollins dominated the Titans by simply winning isolated situations.
Then we move to Week 4 where rookie Colts receiver Alec Pierce had his best game up to that point in the year with 4 catches for 80 yards and won in similar ways as Hollins did. The Titans let Dyami Brown go for 2-105-2 with two long catches down the sideline in man coverage.
The beatings continue whether it was Courtland Sutton for the Broncos, Tee Higgins for the Bengals, AJ Brown for the Eagles(sigh...) or even Mike Williams for the Chargers.
The Titans love playing man coverage, but if what we saw in 2022 continues, the Titans will not be able to play it as much as head coach Mike Vrabel desires. They simply got beat in one-on-one man coverage so often on the sideline.
The Titans added ball hawk and physical corner Sean Murphy-Bunting in the offseason. They will hope Kristian Fulton is healthy enough to be on the field consistently. If SMB plays his best and Fulton is out there, this weakness should improve for the Titans.
The issue is Fulton is already banged up in minicamp and outside of SMB, all the Titans corners are slot guys like Elijah Molden and Roger McCreary. Asking McCreary, who is short with tiny arms for an NFL player, to be an outside corner went miserably last year because he loses these isolated situations due to length.
The Titans need to consider adding someone at the position with some length to play outside or they are one injury, to an oft-injured player, away from disaster again. That will make it tough to hit their ceiling as a team.
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Kristian Fulton Returns: The Tennessee Titans kicked off their full-team summer practices last week and one notable absence was cornerback Kristian Fulton. Fulton has re-joined the team this week. CLICK HERE
Tannehill or Bust: We've seen them in practice, and it's clear Ryan Tannehill gives the Tennessee Titans the best chance to win games in 2023. CLICK HERE
