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The Titans beat on good teams, but they are lost without Derrick Henry
The Tennessee Titans are 7-2 and sitting atop the AFC after winning on the road against one of the best teams in the league – the LA Rams. While this achievement alone is impressive, the most important thing is that they did so without superstar Derrick Henry.
King Henry suffered a foot injury in week 8 which will likely sideline him for the next 10 weeks or so. This puts him on track to returning around playoff time.
Many people are overreacting to the 28-16 victory at SoFi stadium this past Sunday but we are here to tell you to lower your expectations when it comes to the Titans’ future success.
Now don’t get us wrong, the team is obviously very tough. Coach Vrabel has done an excellent job and the team has become pretty gritty. However, the explosive run plays are likely gone. The Titans were 3rd in the league in rushing yards at 155.4 yards per game before Henry went down. It took them only one game to move down in the ranking and take 4th place.
It is only a matter of time before they go down even further fighting to remain in the top 10 in that stat category. Why are we so pessimistic?
How did the match versus the LA Rams go down exactly?
The defense of the Titans did a good job containing the passing game of the Rams. They took away Cooper Kupp’s big plays and contained him to a few ‘’underneath’’ catches. The biggest achievement of that defense, however, was the two picks, one of which was returned by Kevin Byard for a touchdown.
The two interceptions occurred in the span of 16 seconds and completely turned the tide of the game. The first pick set up a 1st & goal from the 3-yard line which was converted in a touchdown and the second interception, as stated above, was a pick-six.
The third touchdown that the Tennessee Titans scored was a play-action run by QB Ryan Tannehill which was sniffed out by Aaron Donald who was accidentally blocked by fellow teammate Leonard Floyd. All three of these touchdowns happened in the 2nd quarter and from then on it was all about milking that clock.
Looking at the box score proves the notion that the Titans simply caught a break. The team accumulated 194 yards. Not passing yard, not rushing yards, not return yards – but total yards. The running back committee approach yielded only 69 rushing yards with half-retired Adrian Peterson joining the fun with 21 yards on the ground.
For comparison, the Rams had 253 yards through the air alone, accompanied by another 94 on the ground. The two picks that Stafford threw account for 14 points essentially. The final score of 28-16 is completely misleading and on any other day, the Titans likely lose that game.
We have little doubt that Vrabel will navigate the team to the postseason, especially with that cupcake schedule that awaits Tennessee. Once they get in the playoffs, though, watch out. The Bills, the Chiefs, and other AFC teams will be prowling to get the wounded and overly hyped Titans.
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