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Titans: Defense Surprisingly Solid In Win

By Randy Sharber

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The Tennessee Titans put it all over the Tampa Buccaneers today

Marcus Mariota was the talk of the day and the star of social media in the NFL. Mariota had a perfect passing rating while throwing for four touchdowns on Tampa Bay. It was the best game a Titan rookie quarterback has ever had in their first game.

There were many pleasant surprises today for the Titans. No one could have expected a rookie quarterback to play as well as Mariota did today. Not only was it his first start, but it was also on the road.

The second surprise was the Titan running game. Bishop Sankey had not shown himself to be a capable NFL back last season or this pre-season. Sankey ran hard today; like his job depended on it. Actually, it did.

The new addition of Terrance West proved to be interesting. West looked like a good, hard nosed runner that the Titans have not had in a while. He hit the hole quick, and was decisively north and south. These two will not make other teams fear the running game, but they will have to respect it. That will help.

But the thing that surprised me the most was the defense. I know Jameis Winston is a rookie. I know that the Bucs were missing Mike Evans at receiver. But this Bucs team does have a good running back in Doug Martin.

Martin is in a contract year. That is big for running backs. Statistically it is always their best year. Martin is healthy and motivated. The Titans did a pretty good job of stopping him today. Inside, Jurrell Casey was back to form. He clogged up the middle and provided pressure on Winston early and often. He had three solo tackles and all three were for losses.

But a few guys I did not know very well made some strides today. Defensive End DaQuan Jackson, a second year player out of Penn State, led all Titans with an impressive 7 solo tackles. Zach Brown played his best game as a Titan and recorded 6 solo tackles and an assist.

Two other youngsters made plays on the defensive line. Angelo Blackson, a rookie defensive tackle out of Auburn had three tackles. Deiontrez Mount, a rookie defensive end out of Louisville made a big time play on an interception in the first half.

Mount had his legs cut from underneath him. He got back to his feet quickly and just in time to grab a screen pass from Winston for the interception. It was a beautiful play, and the Titans turned it into points quickly.

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The Titans resigned outside linebacker Derrick Morgan in the offseason. He rewarded them with a great game today. Morgan was everywhere on defense, and put big pressure on the young Tampa Bay rookie.  Morgan had 5 total tackles and two of them for losses.

The secondary played well, although they had multiple opportunities for interceptions that went off of their hands. Coty Sensabaugh intercepted Jameis Winston’s first NFL pass and ran it back into the Pirate Ship for a touchdown. I don’t think Jameis will want that in his trophy case.

I don’t want to get too excited yet. I saw this same thing happen in Kansas City last season. The Chiefs were worn out by the Titans in week one. Tennessee had been horrible in the pre-season defensively last season, and played great against a very good Kansas City offense.

Same thing this season. The Titans were horrid on defense in the pre-season. Today, they looked. well, pretty good. So we will reserve judgement until we see a better sample size. The Titans won their first one last season, and won only one more during the rest of the year.

The Titans go to Cleveland next weekend. They will face an improving Johnny Manziel. The Browns were outclassed today by the Jets in a big way, losing 31-10. The Browns really do not have a running game to speak of, and the passing game is just kind of so-so.

We will see if this Titans defense is better than last season in this game. This is a game that the Titans should win on paper, and based on today’s performances of the two teams. But they will have to forget this one quickly, and begin thinking about Manziel.

How do they contain him from running? How do they pressure him into the turnovers Winston made today? How well can they maintain there overall intensity from week one to week two? These are questions that will be answered around noon next Sunday. Until then, we will enjoy this performance.

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