After making it all the way to the conference championship in 2019, the Tennessee Titans have Super Bowl aspirations in 2020.
But first, there are some areas in which the Titans must improve upon if they’re going to take that next step.
Here are four numbers that show the areas where Tennessee must improve the most in 2020.
Sacks allowed: 56
The Titans finished with the second-most sacks allowed in the NFL last season after a horrid start to the campaign that saw Tennessee surrender 26 in the first six games, an average of 4.3 per contest.
Things stabilized in the 13 games that followed (including playoffs), as the Titans’ group upfront allowed 34, an average of 2.6 per contest. Rodger Saffold attributed that turnaround to the building of chemistry and improvement in communication from the big guys upfront.
The biggest question marks going into 2020 will be at right guard and right tackle, with the latter position set to have a new starter after Jack Conklin departed in free agency.
However, there are reasons for optimism the Titans can improve this number:
- Rodger Saffold allowed six sacks in his first six games, but none after that.
- Nate Davis posted an overall PFF grade of 30.1 through Week 14, but 71.5 from Week 15 on.
- Conklin posted a PFF pass-blocking grade of 72.3. His likely replacement, Dennis Kelly, finished with a PFF pass-blocking grade of 77.4 in 2018 and 75.2 in 2019. Kelly could actually provide an upgrade in pass protection at right tackle.
- After a lot of instability upfront to start last season with Davis getting hurt, Taylor Lewan getting suspended and Saffold needing time to learn the playbook and how to play with his new teammates, the Titans will enjoy some continuity in 2020 and the O-line will have a full camp together.
As long as Davis continues his upward trajectory and Kelly can come close to or improve upon what Conklin did in pass protection, the Titans should be vastly improved in pass protection.
Sacks: 43
It was never more apparent that the Titans didn’t have the kind of pass-rush to go all the way than in the AFC Championship Game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs where Patrick Mahomes carved up Tennessee’s defense.
After finishing 13th in sacks in 2019, the Titans added outside linebacker Vic Beasley in the hopes that he could help take some pressure off the team’s best pass-rusher, Harold Landry, en route to improving the pass-rush.
Aside from Beasley, the Titans have a promising group of outside linebackers that includes Kamalei Correa, who totaled six sacks in the team’s last eight games (including playoffs), Derick Roberson, who had three sacks in the last two regular season games, and a wild card in 2019 fifth-round pick, D’Andre Walker.
The elephant in the room right now is the Titans’ ongoing pursuit of Jadeveon Clowney. While we have no clue where Clowney will ultimately land, there’s no question he’d be a signing that takes the Titans’ pass-rush — and defense as a whole — to the next level.
The Titans’ issues in the pass-rush didn’t just stop at the outside linebackers, though.
The defensive line didn’t do a great job with getting to the quarterback, as 9.5 of the team’s 43 sacks came from the big guys upfront, and five of those sacks were from Jurrell Casey, who is no longer with the team.
Of course, a full season with Jeffery Simmons should help replace some of Casey’s production, but the Titans still need to figure out who will be playing the majority of pass-rush snaps alongside Simmons and DaQuan Jones.
Wins: 9
This is a number this franchise just can’t seem to shake. After all, the Titans have totaled nine wins in each of the past four seasons; although nine wins was good enough to make the playoffs in two of those years, both of which saw the team notch at least one playoff win.
Regardless, if the Titans want to show they’re really moving in the right direction and are becoming a perennial contender under head coach Mike Vrabel, achieving a double-digit win season and an AFC South title is a good way to go about it.
The reason for optimism that this will happen is that the Titans get a full year with Ryan Tannehill, who elevated the team’s offense to new heights and was 9-4 as a starter (including playoffs) in his first year in Nashville.
If the Titans can continue to play at the level they did after Tannehill was named the starter in Week 7, the Titans will finally get over the 9-7 hump.
Field goal percentage: 44.4
There’s no other way to say it: the Titans couldn’t make a field goal to save their lives in 2019, posting the league’s worst success rate.
The combination of Cairo Santos, Cody Parkey and Ryan Succop were 8-for-18 on attempts during the regular season, and Parkey was the only one to make all of his (3-for-3); however he was later cut in favor of Succop.
Greg Joseph finished out the campaign as the Titans’ kicker, but he attempted just one field goal, which he made in the playoff loss to the Chiefs. With just 21 career attempts, the jury is still out on the Johannesburg, South Africa native.
Joseph is currently the favorite to land the job in 2020, but he will have to beat out UDFA kicker, Tucker McCann, first, and it’s also possible the Titans bring a veteran to camp to increase the competition.
Tennessee’s field goal unit got bailed out by the offense’s elite ability to finish drives, but that’s not something this team can depend on again.
