View From Nashville: 10 things Patriots fan need to know about the Titans

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Greetings, fans of the Patriots. I know you are used to watching others play this weekend. Sorry to disturb you with information regarding an opponent who's coming to the area and forcing the guys to turn on the lights at Gillette Stadium Saturday evening. Greg Bedard of Boston Sports Journal and I are swapping some pieces this week and we thought these would be a good idea, so...

Here are 10 things a Patriots' fan should know about the Titans, that a Titans' fan might enjoy reviewing too…

1. Ryan Tannehill’s been outrageous.

Tannehill is one of just three quarterbacks in NFL history to finish a season with a completion percentage of over 70 percent and a yard per attempt over 9.0. Only Joe Montana and Sammy Baugh have done it before Tannehill did it this season after taking over for Marcus Mariota in Week 7.

The Titans acquired Tannehill and a 2019 sixth-rounder (West Virginia LB David Long) for a 2020 fourth-round pick and a 2019 seventh-rounder (Auburn FB Chandler Cox) from Miami in the spring, with the Dolphins paying $5 million of his 2019 salary while the Titans took care of $1.75 million and incentives.

Since Tannehill became the starter in Week 7, the Titans are third in yards per game (406.2), third in points per game (30.4), first in yards per play (6.94), second in rushing yards per game (160.6) and 10th in passing yards per game (245.6).

The Titans scored 402 points in 2019, the second-most of the Titans’ era. They scored 435 in 2003 when Steve McNair was co-MVP and Tennessee went 12-4.

That team beat the Ravens in Baltimore in the Wild Card round and then lost in New England when a crucial, late fourth-down pass sailed through the hands of Drew Bennett on a frigid night at Gillette Stadium.

2. The Titans started 2-4 when the defense was pretty damn good but the quarterbacking and the offense were not.

The Titans reasonably needed to get a final verdict on Mariota, but it wasn’t a good one. He played a lot of lifeless football, often providing little energy for his team to feed off of, holding the ball too long to allow for sacks and sometimes struggling to connect on even short passes.

He was good at the one thing that seemed most important to him: not throwing interceptions. He only had two of those in his six starts. He also completed 59.4 percent of his passes, threw seven TDs, got sacked 25 times posted a 92.3 rating and ran a team that went 2-4.

During those six games, the Titans allowed opponents just 15.3 points per game.

3. Big plays, Part I

Rookie receiver A.J. Brown, drafted 51st out of Ole Miss, caught 52 passes for 1,051 yards and eight touchdowns. The guy is big at 6-foot, 226-pounds, but he's got speed that extends beyond his 4.49 combine 40 time. He's great on crossers and slants and then has an uncanny ability to sense what's going on around him and to run away from people. No one can remember him getting caught from behind all season long.

“Some guys get the ball in their hands, they’ve got a nose for the end zone, they find a way to get there," receivers coach Rob Moore said recently. "He’s one of those types of guys. Some guys are finishers, and that’s what he is. He has an instinct for getting into the end zone, and I think A.J. is probably a little faster than a lot of people think.”

Brown led the NFL with nine plays from scrimmage of 45 yards or more, eight catches and one run. Mike Williams of the Chargers and Stefon Diggs of the Vikings were second with six such plays each.

Brown is one of just five players since 1948 with a touchdown catch of at least 90 yards and a touchdown run of at least 45 yards in the same season.

4. Big plays, Part II

Derrick Henry has the highest rushing average, 4.77 yards a carry, among all active running backs with a minimum of 750 carries.

And on that list, Brown leads of plays of 45 yards or more, Henry sits tied for sixth with four, behind only Saquon Barkley among running backs.

That’s pretty good for a guy who really was not getting it done midway through his third season in 2018, running indecisively and failing to use his size and power effectively. The Titans were reportedly looking to deal him and they were even ready to give No. 3 back David Fluellen some carries, though Fluellen immediately got hurt.

But Henry finally had a revelation, spurred in part by a candid pep talk from Eddie George. And since Week 14 of 2018, Henry has amassed 2,125 rushing yards, 329 more yards than Nick Chubb who’s second in that time frame.

From 2017 on, Henry has seven touchdowns of 65 yards or more, the most in the NFL and two more than Tyreek Hill.

His line's gotten steadily better after going the first four games without suspended left tackle Taylor Lewan and a shaky start from big-money free agent Rodger Saffold. Rookie Nate Davis has settled in at right guard. Jack Conklin tore his ACL in the last Titans playoff game at Gillette Stadium and is probably playing his best since his All-Pro Rookie season in 2016.

Watch for outside zone runs to the left as a starting point.

5. In five of their seven losses, the Titans have been shutout at the half.

The Titans are generally slow starters, and when they’ve done their worse first-half work, they’ve not recovered.

In losses at Jacksonville, to Buffalo, at Denver, at Carolina and to Houston, Tennessee did not score in the first half. In a home loss to Indianapolis, they scored only a first-half touchdown.

They are a better second-half team overall, scoring 64 percent of their points after halftime.

6. Logan Ryan has been excellent in his third season with the Titans.

But in the last month, he’s been stretched thin as the Titans have been without their two other top corners. Malcolm Butler (wrist) went on IR Nov. 5 and Adore’ Jackson (foot) has been out the four games.

Still, Ryan is the first defensive back to have at least three sacks (4.5), three picks (4) and three forced fumbles (4) since 2010 and just the sixth to do it since 2000. He's got to be the key to the Titans slowing Julian Edelman, however, which probably puts limits on his role as part of the pass rush.

7. The kicking has been awful.

The Titans hit on eight of 19 field goals this season during which they’ve carried five different kickers -- Cairo Santos, Cody Parkey, Ryan Succop, Ryan Santoso, and Greg Joseph. The .421 percentage is the worst since the 1986 St. Louis Cardinals. Only six individual kickers with at least 19 attempts since the merger have hit at a worse rate, the most recent in 1983.

Their current kicker, Joseph, has not tried a field goal in the two games he’s been with the team. He kicked for Cleveland in 2018 and was signed by the Titans off the Carolina practice squad. If the Patriots can force field goals, they'll be getting a big dose of the unknown.

8. In the 34-10 win over the Patriots in Nashville last season, the Titans made Tom Brady feel quick pressure. 

Blitzes from inside linebackers Wesley Woodyard and Jayon Brown were a big part of that, as was Ryan from the slot.

This time perhaps they can get more from Jurrell Casey and first-rounder Jeffrey Simmons.

The Titans waited six games on Simmons, the interior defensive lineman from Mississippi State. He tore his ACL in February as he prepared for the NFL scouting combine, which led him to slip to 19th overall in the NFL draft, where Tennessee pounced.

He was incredibly disruptive in his debut against the Chargers. Since then he has been pretty steady with big flashes at times. PFF grades him at 70.5 overall, but just 63.5 as a pass rusher.

9. Tennessee has gone 9-7 four consecutive years, the first time a team’s ever done that according to Jim Wyatt of the Titans’ web site. It got them into the playoffs in 2017 and they upset the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium before a divisional-round loss at the Patriots.

Mike Mularkey was then fired for his failure to maximize Mariota and his unwillingness to make changes to his staff that the franchise thought might help him do so. Former Patriots scout Jon Robinson, now the Titans GM, hired former Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel, who’s got the team in a similar place but now with a much better offense thanks to a different quarterback.

10. Before the season, Vrabel said on Taylor Lewan and Will Compton’s podcast that he’d cut off what most men consider a vital piece of their anatomy off in exchange for a Super-Bowl win.