I have absolutely no idea how, but the Titans are somehow 1-0 after barely squeaking by the Denver Broncos in an up and down affair.
There’s a lot to be said, so let’s not waste any time and get this recap done in the most normal way possible.
The Titans Have a Very Serious Problem at Kicker
The #Titans have a very big kicking problem on their hands.
0/2, 6 points left on the field.
— TreJean Watkins (@TreWatkins099) September 15, 2020
Heading into the season opener, a lot of eyes were on addition of Stephen Gostowski. The ex-Patriot was recently signed to the team to bring some stability at kicker, after the stressful and unsuccessful kicking competition between Greg Joseph and Tucker McCann.
Gostowski ended his time in New England on a sour note, putting in a very inconsistent season full of uncharacteristic misses and a feeling of disappointment. He had hoped to move on, and start a new chapter in Nashville, and it all started with the season opener in Denver.
But instead of the sweet music of new beginnings engulfing the 36 year old Gostowski, he was instead hit with constant arrows of embarrassment and total failure.
Gostowski missed a total of 4 kicks last night — 3 field goals that were basically chip shots, and an extra point that I’m sure sent uncomfortable shivers down the spine of Mike Vrabel. The special teams situation got so bad, that no one would blame if the Titans operated inside FG range with the mindset of it being 4 down territory.
In the end, he somewhat redeemed himself by kicking the eventual game winning field goal, but that didn’t stop the questions surrounding the kicking game after the game, and moving forward.
Stephen Gostkowski coming through in the CLUTCH 💰
After missing his first 3 FIELD GOALS and an EXTRA POINT… the future hall of famer delivers for his new squad 💯
(via @nfl) pic.twitter.com/pQuH7fHKxR
— Overtime (@overtime) September 15, 2020
It just makes you think — how can a team continuously fail to find stability at kicker? Time after time, the Titans have tried to find some sort of answer for their kicking game woes, only to find their selves looking for a new place kicker seemingly each week.
It’s a situation that simply baffles me.
One thing is for sure, this team can’t get through the season with another rollercoaster of a year at kicker, it just can’t happen. You’re not going to run into historic success on offense to overlook the struggles with that specific aspect of special teams as the Titans did in 2019.
Not only is it extremely foolish to expect that same offensive success, you’re going to fail 99.9% of the time if you even dare to rely on that foolish method.
Based on postgame comments from Mike Vrabel, it’s unknown on whether Gostowski will be a Titan for much longer. They can cut him, and continue their shuffling of kickers until they find a solution, or stick with Gostowski and hope he figures if out.
Either way, figuring out the head throbbing situation at kicker should be a top priority right now. If they can’t erase their field goal demons, this team’s ceiling is going to shrink a considerable amount.
Season Opening Win Stained By Sloppy Mistakes
#Titans win a game full of really bad mistakes.
Next week, home opener against Jacksonville.
— TreJean Watkins (@TreWatkins099) September 15, 2020
This performance from the Titans was in no means perfect, it was far from it in fact. Not only were there a number of mistakes on both sides of the ball, those same mistakes were repeated drive after drive over the course of the game. Particularly on the defensive side of the ball, where the team just looked like a group of pushovers at times.
Drive after drive, this Titans defense failed to get off the field on third down, ultimately giving Drew Lock and company plenty of opportunities to rack up the points on the scoreboard. There was no consistent pass rush, corners were getting put on skates left and right, a surprising amount of chunk plays were given up, it was just a mess overall that was masked by the fact that the Broncos missed out on a couple of big chances to make this unit look even worse.
The pass rush was a no show, failing to muster up a single sack and put a decent amount of pressure on Lock, even with the questionable options thrown out there at tackle by the Broncos. Credit to Pat Shurmur, he got the ball out of Lock’s hands quickly all game long, and utilized rollouts early on to move Lock away from any sort of potential pressure.
But even on those 2nd and longs, 3rd and longs, this team simply couldn’t find a way to put pressure on Lock. Now is that concerning for the future? Maybe, but I wouldn’t worry too much yet, since the Titans’s OLB group was running with all but 3 healthy bodies.
I’d wait to reserve my judgement once the entire group is healthy and ready to roll.
However, if this goes on all season long, this defense will run into their fair share of problems.
The offense isn’t escaping without criticism either. Although Corey Davis and Derrick Henry both had good days, the general flow of this offense was a little on the sluggish side.
This Corey Davis stiff arm 😤
FILTHY.
(via @thecheckdown)pic.twitter.com/G3gkVFs2g3
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 15, 2020
Both the run game and passing game ran into a bit of inconsistency and straight up failure. Play action worked wonders, but the overall base of the passing game was still as predictable and lethargic as ever. Rust played a factor in these rather boring events, but some of the mistakes made shouldn’t be made even if you throw the lack of overall football activities into the equation.
I will give some credit though, Ryan Tannehill did a great job of spreading the football around, which isn’t all that easy to accomplish given the offense the Titans love to run. 4 Titans had at least 4 catches on the night, which was mostly made possible by the fact that Tannehill threw the ball a whopping 43 times, for 249 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Overview
All in all, this is a win the Titans can’t celebrate too much over. Not only because it’s just week 1, but there were also far too many mistakes made from a usually in sync, disciplined football team. Rashaan Evans, a usually calm headed leader on this Titans defense, was ejected after losing his cool and throwing a punch early on in the game. Those are the sort of boneheaded actions that can put your team in a tough spot, and make matters worse for those around you. Along with that, a couple of flaws that were staring in the Titans’s face coming into week 1, were put on full display for a national audience to witness.
But that’s the thing, it’s just week 1. This is no time to panic, or scream irresponsible conclusions about this team. Every other team is in the same boat, trying to come up with solutions to combat the rust and sloppiness that’ll come with limited action in the off-season.
Lucky for the Titans, they have a lot of time to clean up their play, and play clean football moving forward.
Next Up: Week 2 vs. Jacksonville(Home)
