A spoonful of Henry was exactly what the doctor ordered, and helped put the Jacksonville Jaguars to sleep early. This was a game the Titans needed to have, and they got it with ease.
Three Down:
The Jaguars coaching staff: There is a report that the Jaguars could keep Doug Marrone next year despite proving over and over that he is a terrible coach. The two examples on display today were not starting Gardner Minshew and allowing his best offensive player, James Robinson, to be taken off the field every time the Jags got within the Titans’ 30 yard line.
Gardner Minshew has started two games in his career against the Titans. Both times, he had a passer rating over 90, and threw at least 2 touchdowns. He is successful against the Titans, because he takes what the defense gives him and is able to buy time with his legs. So what did Doug Marrone decide to do? Start Mike Glennon, a bad vertical thrower with cement blocks attached to his legs. Thanks, Doug!
TIAA Bank Field grounds crew: The field was awful on Sunday afternoon. Both teams were slipping all over the place, and whoever was in charge of the maintenance should be fired. The biggest upset of Sunday is that someone didn’t seriously injure themselves in Jacksonville.
Harold Landry, slot corner: We see it every week, and I will not belabor the point, but Harold Landry should not be lined up against the slot receiver. Last week it was on Jarvis Landry, this week it was Keelan Cole Sr. Enough is enough, let your best pass rusher actually rush the passer.
Three Up:
The triplets: Ryan Tannehill, Derrick Henry, and A.J. Brown are all extremely good at football and they displayed it again on Sunday. The play of the game was when all three touched the ball en-route to the opening flea-flicker TD to Brown. Henry was dominant, rushing for over 200 yards. Tannehill’s yardage numbers were not impressive, but he made every throw he needed to.
I have said it before in this column, but the Titans need this trio to play up to their capablilities if they want to make a deep playoff run. They certainly did it today.
Malcolm Butler: Butler has been possibly the best player on defense all year for the Titans. He did an excellent job shadowing D.J. Chark today, holding the Jags’ top wideout to 2 catches for 16 yards on 9 targets.
Butler also had a spectacular interception to officially seal the game in the third quarter. He’s made the potential decision to cut him for cap savings after this season very difficult for Jon Robinson.
Mike Vrabel: Vrabel made sure the loss last week did not snowball into Week 14. However, what I wanted to highlight was his masterful clock management at the end of the first half. After the Titans scored on a Henry TD, they forced a turnover on downs, and were able to get into field goal position.
That’s the kind of coaching that makes the difference in the playoffs when the margins are small. Let’s hope it carries over. Next up is the Detroit Lions, and Vrabel will need to avoid a letdown game after a dominant win against a divisional opponent.
