Have you ever noticed how before Sunday Night Football, Carrie Underwood always says, “I’ve been waiting all day for Sunday night”? Why isn’t Mrs. Underwood waiting all day, the following day, for Monday night? It seems like Monday Night Football would be looked forward to more than Sunday Night Football after fans spent all day waiting for that night’s game at work or at school. Plus, there aren’t games on all day like there are on Sunday!
I spent all day on Monday looking forward to Monday night, even though Carrie Underwood did not instruct me to do so. My beloved Tennessee Titans were taking on a team that many people see as Super Bowl favorites; the Buffalo Bills. Even though the Titans lost in heartbreaking fashion in Week 1 to the New York Giants, I was still looking forward to the game. I even laid out a Titans shirt to wear to work on Monday. I did not expect the Titans to walk into Buffalo and beat the Bills, but I also didn’t expect the Bills to win 41-7.
Ya know that classic gif/video that is shared every year by sports fans from the classic movie “The Waterboy”? Ya know, the one where Rob Schneider yells, “Oh no, we suck again!”. Someone needs to photoshop a Titans hat on Mr. Schneider and that would sum up how things are going in Music City.
For the last few years, the Titans have been one of the top teams in the AFC. Expectations have been high, and every game comes with the hope of a Titans dub. Those feelings seem to be dwindling away as the team inches closer to rebuild mode.
The Good
LOL.
Do you think there were good takeaways from that game for the Tennessee Titans? We’ll start with an interception by Amani Hooker in the endzone that was ruled as not a catch when it totally was. Yeah, it was that kind of game.
I guess if we really want to scrape the bottom of the barrel for good takeaways, Derrick Henry scored a touchdown. It was King Henry’s first house call of the season. Henry finished with just 25 yards on 13 carries, not great!
Another good takeaway; Malik Willis saw his first NFL gameplay. He didn’t do all that much: 1 of 4 for 16 yards passing and carried the ball 4 times for 16 yards and a fumble. Willis is the quarterback of the future in Nashville and the more reps he gets, the better.
Treylon Burks also showed flashes of what he could be. Burks caught 4 passes for 47 yards, leading all Titans’ receivers. If the Titans can get the ball in Burks’ hands, then he could have a big rookie campaign.
The last good takeaway; the Titans’ draft pick keeps improving. The 2023 NFL Draft has a ton of talent at the top, and if the Titans are as bad as they’ve shown in weeks one and two, they might be adding an elite prospect next April.
The Bad
The whole game, I guess?
Football is a game split into three; offense, defense, and special teams. All three aspects of the game need to be firing on all cylinders to win a game against a team like the Bills. All three of those aspects were very bad on Monday night.
The Titans only gained 187 total yards, while the Bills accumulated 414 total yards on Monday. Pro Bowl QB Josh Allen looked like a video game character as he put up a stat line of; 26/38 for 317 Yards and 4 touchdowns. Star receiver Stefon Diggs caught 12 passes from Allen for 148 yards and 3 touchdowns. Diggs, one of the best receivers in the entire NFL, thrived in single coverage- in which he was defended by undrafted rookie Tre Avery more often than not.
While Allen thrived, Titans QB Ryan Tannehill completed 11 of 20 passes for 117 yards and two interceptions. Tannehill accounted for half the Titans’ turnovers; they also lost two fumbles. Tannehill has proven since becoming the starting quarterback for the Titans that he can make plays, but the play calling needs to be there. Offensive coordinator Todd Downing has failed every single one of the talented offensive players on the Titans’ roster.
I don’t even want to talk about the muffed punts or injuries. The mistakes are so frustrating, and the injuries are demoralizing.
Final Thoughts
The Titans haven’t been beat down like they were Monday night in quite some time.
If Mike Vrabel was an old-timey Civil War general, he would probably be writing home to his wife, telling her about how morale is the lowest it’s ever been, and it seems as if it will be a long season.
I like to be optimistic about the Titans, but after the performance in Buffalo, it’s hard to find any optimism. The only thing I can think of is that the AFC South is BAD, yes, capital B-A-D bad. The season is very long, and things could turn around, but my oh my, what a sour start to the year.
If things don’t turn around, I can’t wait to welcome Will Anderson, Bryce Young, or CJ Stroud to Nashvill next April!
