The Tennessee Titans desperately needed to find a sense of rhythm as they traveled to Denver to take on the Broncos in Week 6, but instead fell flat, losing 16-0.
With both the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts taking a win over the Kansas City Chiefs, things are beginning to look bleak for the Tennessee Titans.
Through the first six weeks of the season, the Titans defense has been solid, having yet to allow more than 20 points in a contest. However, the Titans offense has struggled from top to bottom, and the trend continued this week.
Here’s a look at the Good, the Bad and the Ugly from the matchup.
The Good.
• Marcus Mariota was benched after his second interception of the game, and Ryan Tannehill vastly outplayed Mariota. In fact, the Titans never crossed the 50-yard line until Tannehill entered the game.
• Kevin Byard had an interception to give the Tennessee offense a chance to shift the momentum and put points on the board.
The Bad.
• The Titans never crossed the 50-yard line until the fourth quarter.
• Nate Davis is clearly not ready to start in the NFL. The Titans found no success running the football, and especially not on the right side. Derrick Henry only averaged a measly 1.9 yards per carry in this one.
• The Titans have an abysmal pass rush against a young offensive line known for being one of the weakest in the league.
The Ugly.
• The Titans allowed seven sacks. However, this can’t be solely blamed on the offensive line. On some of the sacks given up the quarterback had plenty of time, but lack of anticipation and hesitation lead to a sack.
• The coaching staff waited too late to bring Tannehill in. It is highly likely Tannehill could have won the game for the Titans. He completed 13 of his 16 attempts, and his interception was a ball thrown up in a prayer on fourth down with pressure in his face.
• Jayon Brown was injured and never returned to the game.
• AJ Brown’s own size and strength back fired against him when a big play was negated due to an offensive pass interference call. Brown sent a defensive back sailing backwards while hand fighting at the line. While it was impressive, he’ll have to learn to scale it back a bit in the future.
• Darius Jennings saw multiple targets, which means the Titans have a glaring need for depth at the wide receiver position, or the players weren’t conditioned well enough to deal with the high altitude. However, relying on Jennings in critical situations more than once is almost as bad as having Bishop Sankey as your feature back.
Conclusion.
Overall, the Titans looked like an uninspired football team who didn’t even want to be in this game. The players showed absolutely no emotion and energy from the sideline with the coaching staff was rare as well. This is a team with a lot of work to do as it progresses through the 2019 season.
