The Tennessee Titans laid another egg on Sunday and failed to score a single touchdown in Week 10, losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by a score of 20-6. This is the third loss of the season where Tennessee failed to find the end zone over four quarters of play.
There are a lot of ways that you can break the Titans’ issues down, but the simplest would be this: Tennessee is not a very good football team on either side of the ball.
The once-dominant run defense has vanished, the supposedly potent pass rush is non-existent and the secondary can’t stop anybody. Offensively, the group is a complete mess outside of a handful of players.
Being a Titans fan is not a fun experience at the moment. Watching their games is somewhere between boring and miserable.
As you can probably imagine, the majority of this week’s stock report is largely negative, with more Titans players and coaches lowering their stocks than improving them.
Truthfully, you could add a bunch more players and coaches to the “stock down” section this week, but I just went with some of the more obvious and undeniable ones.
Having said all of that, let’s dive right into it.
Stock up: WR Kyle Philips
Philips had another performance in which he accounted for over 60 receiving yards and led the team in the category. It was also his third straight game averaging well over three yards of separation.
According to Next Gen Stats, since Week 8, Philips has averaged 4.61 yards of separation, 1.6 yards more than the league average. The UCLA product set a new season-high by averaging an incredibly impressive 5.44 yards of separation on Sunday en route to recording 61 yards on three catches.
Stock down: QB Will Levis
This might be a little unfair considering the horrendous offensive line play, but there’s no denying that his hype nationally has taken a hit after last Sunday’s game.
The rookie quarterback had the lowest completion percentage and yardage output of his young career. To make matters worse, Levis hasn’t thrown a touchdown since his four-touchdown performance in his NFL debut.
The flashes of potential greatness are obviously there, but it’s hard to see them as frequently as we would prefer given the state of the roster around him.
Stock up: CB Roger McCreary
This one probably falls closer toward the middle, but there aren’t too many candidates who we can realistically say improved their stock. Therefore, I have to go with Roger McCreary here.
He played a phenomenal first half against the Bucs, recording an interception and pass break-up. Unfortunately, his play noticeably fell off over the second half.
However, considering he was on the shelf the last few weeks, it was nice to see him back on the field and making positive plays. For that reason, he narrowly finds himself in the stock up category.
Stock down: Offensive line
I didn’t think the offensive line could find a way to lower its already low stock, but it certainly did. The offensive line allowed a whopping 21 quarterback pressures, 13 quarterback hits, and four sacks.
It seems as if my grade for yesterday’s performance might’ve been a little too generous https://t.co/AuDiGBDQ1H pic.twitter.com/HI7YDtCjN1
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels98) November 13, 2023
This was simply one of the most pathetic performances I can ever recall from an offensive line. It’s the type of performance that can ruin a young quarterback’s confidence if it continues to happen.
Nobody is expecting this Titans team to go on a playoff run, but Tennessee desperately needs to find some solutions going forward to at least give their rookie quarterback a chance.
Stock down: LB Monty Rice
Some of the most popular players on the team are always the backups of those who are performing poorly. Jack Gibbens’ recent struggles caused a lot of fans to start clamoring for Monty Rice to get playing time instead.
Their wish was met with a 43-yard touchdown off a screen pass that could’ve been prevented had Rice not put himself out of position. The Georgia product sold out to stop the run without accounting for a potential screen.
A competent linebacker sniffs out tendencies beforehand, or at the very least, they’ll read and react to the look they’re given. When it comes to Rice, he is out there guessing half the time.
Gibbens has plenty of faults of his own, especially when it comes to his physical stature. On the contrary, he’s usually a smart and instinctive player who doesn’t put himself in disadvantageous positions the way Rice does.
Neither are ideal starters, but I’ll always take the smart linebacker with physical limitations over the athletic player who is out there guessing.
Rice was one of the most confusing picks on draft day a few years back, and that decision has only gotten worse as time passes.
Stock down: HC Mike Vrabel and his coaching staff
I’m personally not on the fire Mike Vrabel train. I think this team has much bigger issues than him.
With that said, I do think it’s fair to say his seat is getting warmer with each passing week. I would love to see Vrabel stay, but force him to clean house when it comes to the majority of his coaching staff.
That would then compel him to go outside of his comfort zone by hiring coaches who aren’t already in the building.
The most damning argument against Vrabel’s staff is how conservative and scared they’ve been once they get in less-than-ideal situations offensively.
The Titans can be 12 yards out on a 3rd-and-goal, but instead of taking a shot for the end zone, they consistently run the ball and settle for three points. I understand the personnel has its issues, but that’s not going to work at the professional level.
Cleaning house is something that probably should’ve happened last year, but at this point, I think that’s a fair ultimatum to give him unless things drastically improve over the final eight weeks.
If he chooses not to do that, Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk and general manager Ran Carthon will have a tough decision to make.
