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Titans Give Fans Pitiful Performance

By Randy Sharber

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The Tennessee Titans gave fans their poorest performance of the 2015 season today at Nissan Stadium.

As a result, the fans have still yet to see a home victory in over a year. As far as that goes, they have only seen 3 wins in two seasons. Believe me when I tell you that the fans are at their wits’ end. Or Whisenhunt end I should say.

The reeling Miami Dolphins made the Titans look like a school of Mullet. They simply ate them up in all phases of the game. They sacked Marcus Mariota 5 times. They forced 4 Titans turnovers. All of those were on Mariota. Two fumbles and two bad interceptions. I will be listening to Mark Howard and Frank Wycheck in the morning to see how they make this Justin Hunter’s fault. (see story from a few days back)

To be fair to Mariota, he was hurt early in the game as a Miami Dolphin hit him around the knees. It looked dirty at first sight, but it was not intentional. Whisenhunt elected to play the rookie anyway. He will take a lot of heat for this tomorrow on call in shows, and it will be deserved. Mariota could not move. He was a sitting duck for Miami’s Cameron Wake. Wake had four of the Dolphins five sacks.

Whisenhunt kept Mariota in the game, but took first year pro right tackle Jeremiah Poutasi out of the game. Poutasi was getting schooled by Wake, and Whis said he did not want to ruin the rookie’s confidence. What about Mariota’s confidence? More importantly, what about his health?

The Titans defense was terrible once again. I know statistics showed that the Titans were a top NFL defense, but they had not exactly played offensive juggernauts. The Bucs, the Bills, the Browns, and the Colts. They can not tackle. They can not defend the pass. The Dolphins had been averaging a little over 70 yards per game on the ground.

Tailback Lamar Miller had 100 at the half, and ended with 113 yards on 10 carries. Wideout Jarvis Landry added a 22 yard touchdown run that was the first score of the game. Landry ran over two Titans defensive backs in route to the end zone. It was a sign of things to go.

Ryan Tannehill was 22/29 for 266 yards and two touchdowns. The Titans did pick him off twice. Michael Griffin and Coty Sensabaugh both picked off Tannehill. Sensabaugh’s pick came at a time in the third quarter that looked like the Titans could mount a comeback. The Titans were down 24-10 and deep in Dolphin territory with the interception. However, Mariota threw a touchdown on the very next play. Game over.

On the offensive side the running game sputtered again as well. Dexter McCluster started and looked good on the first drive. McCluster had 23 yards on five carries. Antonio Andrews had 23 yards on 9 carries. Pitiful. But there was nowhere to run. The offensive line was overwhelmed by the Dolphin front four.

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To add insult to injury, the Titans actually lost center Brian Schwenke to a gruesome leg injury. Many Titan players had to look away as Schwenke was on the ground. Reports are that it was a severely dislocated ankle. He is gone for the season.

Delanie Walker was the bright spot on the day. Delanie had 97 yards on 8 receptions. That was about it on the day.

So overall the Titans were outplayed. Miami had done their homework on the Tennessee offense. They zeroed in on the quick slant which seems to be Mariota’s security blanket. As a matter of fact, defensive back Reshad Jones of the Dolphins stepped in front of one of Mariota’s slants to Walker. Everyone that has seen a Ken Whisenhunt-Marcus Mariota game knew the pass was coming. They are that predictable.

I don’t know where this team goes from here. They have no fire. They have no leadership. I know they must have heart, because they play a game that requires it. But individually they must dig down deep and find that heart. They have a ticked off Atlanta Falcon team coming next week. If you thought Rishard Matthews of the Dolphins was a decent receiver, just wait until Julio Jones can run through this secondary next week. Records could fall Sunday.

Whisenhunt is going to have to face some tough questions this week. Well, not as tough as need be, because this is Nashville. He will not be confronted as needed. We wouldn’t want to hurt anyones feelings. Bless his heart and all of that.

If Titan fans are honest they will say they have no faith in this staff. There has been nothing to prove they can get the job done. There is nothing to show they even care. They are soft. But as I have said for a while, they do not have a lot of NFL talent to work with. You have Dick freakin’ LeBeau, and you can’t stop anyone defensively. He did not forget how to coach. He just doesn’t have anyone to coach.

Maybe this team will gel some kind of way. There are eleven games left in the season. It can get better, or it can get worse. I think the latter is more likely. It is kind of like a Whisenhunt slant call. You can see it coming.

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