If you haven’t given your respect to Mike Vrabel yet, I think now is a good time to do so.
Vrabel and his Tennessee Titans came into their week 5 matchup against the Buffalo Bills full of questions and obstacles. Due to their COVID-19 outbreak, the Titans have been out of action for over 2 weeks, only getting the opportunity to wait out their unfortunate situation and hope things would eventually get better.
Not only that, their outbreak caused the NFL to hunker down and find solutions to their then looming schedule problem. Those actions didn’t sit well with fans and other personalities around the league, which ended up with the Titans being labeled as villains and disruptors.
Mike Vrabel had a lot to deal with, but he brought his team together, and kept them ready for whenever they’d be set to return to play.
The result of that mindset and preparation, was a 42-16 drubbing of the Buffalo Bills, and a 4-0 start the Titans haven’t had in over a decade.
What a win for Mike Vrabel and the #Titans.
They come back after all that time off, and beat the brakes off one of the hottest teams in the AFC. Job well done to Vrabel and his staff.
— TreJean Watkins (@TreWatkins099) October 14, 2020
We have a lot to talk about.
Titans Offense Looked Great Without Corey Davis & Adam Humphries
Heading into the game, the Titans were facing quite a dilemma at the wide receiver position. Corey Davis, Adam Humphries, and Cameron Batson all were either longshots or weren’t even close to being available to play against Buffalo.
With AJ Brown still being treated for a painful bone bruise, nobody would’ve blamed you if you had concerns about the Titans passing game potentially being successful against a stingy Bills defense. Aside from Jonnu Smith, the only healthy options in the passing attack heading into last night’s contest were Kalif Raymond and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.
Cody Hollister was called up from the practice squad before the game, but that didn’t really move the needle much in terms of confidence in the banged up Titans WR core.
But instead of the struggling play we all expected on the offensive side of the ball, the Titans put on an absolute offensive clinic.
Ryan Tannehill looked fantastic, finishing 21-28 for 195 yards and 3 passing touchdowns, plus a rushing touchdown to top it all off.
He didn’t make any mistakes, instead, he leaned on his playmakers and let them do their job.
One of the playmakers he leaned on a lot tonight was TE Jonnu Smith, who added some impressive numbers to his already much improved 2020 statline.
The #Titans love that play deep in the red zone for Jonnu Smith.
Line him up as a boundary WR, run him inside with a slant route and have his size seal off smaller corners who might line up on him.
— TreJean Watkins (@TreWatkins099) October 14, 2020
Smith caught 5 passes for 40 yards along with 2 scores, only solidifying his position as one of the Titans’ most dangerous emerging weapons on offense.
AJ Brown returned to the lineup last night as well, and while he was most likely playing at less than 100%, he still managed to put on a show. Brown hauled in 7 catches for 82 yards and a touchdown, running wild all night long while seemingly looking as healthy as can be.
His return to the lineup was huge, make no mistake about it. His outstanding knack to get open and his longstanding chemistry with Ryan Tannehill was needed during a night full of chaos lineup wise, and boy did he deliver.
AJ Brown is completely torching Josh Norman right now. Everytime he’s been 1v1, Brown has fooled him. #Titans
— TreJean Watkins (@TreWatkins099) October 14, 2020
Arthur Smith deserves a lot of credit as well. He maneuvered his way around as a playcaller without Davis and Humphries, plus an underwhelming performance from Derrick Henry, who only gained 57 yards on 19 carries.
There hasn’t been doubt about what this Titans offense could achieve when healthy. But the job they did without a couple of key pieces against one of the more respected defenses in football, was nothing short of impressive.
Titans Defense Forces a Couple of Key Turnovers, Cause Fits In The 2nd Half
The Titans have struggled so far this year on defense.
There’s no extra witty remarks to further emphasize the point, no extra numbers or stats, the simple point above should be enough to get the point across if you’ve watched this team play this year.
This unit has struggled to cover, struggled to defend the run, struggled to rush the passer, it’s just been a mess all across the board. While their struggles didn’t completely disappear against Buffalo, they did put in their best defensive performance since their opening week win in Denver.
The Titans came into last night’s game with ranked as one of the worst rushing defenses in all of football. They played nothing like their ranking suggested against Buffalo.
The Bills only gained a total of 95 yards rushing on 22 carries, running into a numerous amount of fits as the night went along. The Titans cleaned up their tackling issues from 2 weeks ago, stopping anyone who dared to run the ball dead in their tracks.
Although the Titans’ run defense was fantastic, the defense once again failed to consistently get off the field on 3rd down. Buffalo was 13/17 on 3rd down, and didn’t necessarily look uncomfortable while trying to achieve success in this aspect of situational football.
Despite that, the Titans’ defense still caused fits for Josh Allen and the Bills, ultimately finishing as one of the reasons the score looked so lopsided at the end of the game.
To add, all of this was done with a minimal amount of practice time leading up to the game.
Kudos to Mike Vrabel and his staff, they did a great job keeping their guys ready to go, especially on the defensive side of the ball where struggles were most prevalent.
Up Next
vs. Houston at HOME, NOON CST
Featured image via Yahoo Sports
