A monstrous win for the Titans leaves them with a three game lead on Indianapolis for the division. The win also puts them in the AFC’s top spot.
Three Down
Ryan Tannehill: Some of Tannehill’s decision making left a lot to be desired on Sunday during the first half. He threw two absolutely horrendous interceptions, one of which led to the Colts taking a 14-0 lead. The first pick, there was no need to throw the ball, much less force it into quadruple coverage. The second pick, he under-threw it, was picked off, but luckily, the Titans forced a fumble on Tyquan Lewis and retained possession.
Tannehill can’t make the same mistakes he did today against some of the better teams in the NFL. That being said, he showed the rest of the game how good he can be, and he and A.J. were the reasons on offense why they won the game. It’s also important to note that every QB isn’t going to be perfect ever week. I saw way too many people on Twitter claiming that the Titans need to draft his successor this year or that we saw Miami Tannehill, as if that’s some kind of insult (he was a 4k passer in Miami). Other good QBs make mistakes as well. Tom Brady lost on Sunday in large part due to his three turnovers. Learn from it and don’t throw into quadruple coverage against L.A..
Derrick Henry: Eventually Derrick Henry was going to be stopped and the Colts finally did it. Henry carried the ball 28 times for just 2.4 yards per carry. He appeared to have his cleat off at one point and had the training staff near him, leading to speculation about injury. The King finished the game, so I’d imagine he’s fairly healthy. Going into primetime next week, he’ll look to feast on the Ram defense. I can’t imagine he’ll be back on this side of the list.
The officiating: I am loath to complain about refereeing. Generally I think it’s low hanging fruit and your team can win despite poor performances by the zebras. Sunday was one of the rare circumstances the complaints are warranted. They spotted the ball poorly, they made some insanely bad holding calls, they didn’t blow the play dead despite forward progress being stopped (this lead to a penalty on Big Jeff), then they blew a play dead as A.J. Brown caught the ball and ruled it incomplete before a Vrabel challenge.
The NFL needs to review how refs are graded and they need to be accountable. Sunday was a black eye on the sport.
Three Up
A.J. Brown: Wow this guy is a stud. Back to back weeks over 130 yards, and he’s getting the YAC ability back. If Julio comes back and returns to form, there is not a CB group in the league that can contain them. Heck, no one can even contain Brown by himself. The Titans have started to feed Brown, and he’s showing that he can make the most of it. Keep feeding him.
The Tannehill Keeper: This play is unstoppable. Every time the Titans need yards, they run this play and convert. At this time, there is no play that is run with more efficiency. Not the Tom Brady QB Sneak, not even the Carson Wentz underthrow to get a DPI. The Tannehill Keeper reigns supreme.
Obviously not from yesterday, but in case you were curious what perfection looks like:
Fat Randy: When the Titans signed Randy, I did not think much of it. Just another lamb to the slaughter. However, Bullock has been mostly excellent since joining the squad. On Sunday he drilled the game winning FG in overtime. He inspires quite a few funny tweets on Sundays and hopefully his success continues. Keep it up, Randy. I hope you never have a buy a drink in Nashville again.
