The Tennessee Titans followed up their impressive Week 4 win with yet another disappointing loss in Week 5, which dropped head coach Mike Vrabel’s squad to 2-3 on the season.
Our round-up begins with USA TODAY’s Nate Davis, who actually has the Titans moving up two spots, from No. 21 to No. 19. Here’s what he had to say about Tennessee:
Buy Titans Tickets19. Titans (21): WR DeAndre Hopkins’ 100-yard day courtesy of Ryan Tannehill was the 11th time he’s topped the century mark with a different quarterback. Get a C-note with two more passers, and Nuk sets a league record … so might be worthy lobbying for playing time for Malik Willis and rookie Will Levis.
Davis is obviously joking about inserting Willis and/or Levis in order to help Hopkins break the record. Tannehill was actually solid for the most part in Week 5, the Titans’ offense just couldn’t finish its drives.
Now, a look at where Tennessee sits in the NFL power rankings of various experts following their loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Jarrett Bailey, Touchdown Wire: 27 (-2)
Bailey: “Last week, I said the Titans were a box of chocolates because you never know what you will get with them week in and week out. Well, this week’s piece of chocolate was the one filled with toenail clippings.”
Barry Werner, The List Wire: 23 (+1)
Werner: “The Titans are a far cry from the squad that was a powerhouse in the AFC South for many years. Derrick Henry has not been dominant and Ryan Tannehill has never really been tremendous.”
Pete Prisco, CBS Sports: 17 (-2)
Prisco: “The defense had a rough day against the Colts. That was surprising. At 2-3, it’s not been a great start to the season. Now they face a tough game against the Ravens in London.”
Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk: 20 (+1)
Florio: “They’ll be up and down all year long.”
NFL Nation, ESPN: 23 (-2)
Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News: 25 (-2)
Iyer: “The Titans are trying to duct tape themselves into competitiveness and it was positive that DeAndre Hopkins finally looked like himself. But the concern is Derrick Henry and the running game sputtering and the stout un defense suddenly wilting.”
Frank Schwab, Yahoo Sports: 26 (-6)
Schwab: “With about eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Titans had fourth-and-1 from the Colts’ 5-yard line. That’s a conversion Derrick Henry has made many times in his career. This time, he was stuffed for no gain and the Colts went on to win. Henry’s yards per carry is a career low 3.8, a half-yard lower than any other average he has posted since 2017, and he’s losing snaps to rookie Tyjae Spears. Henry showed in Week 4 he’s still capable of big games but it seems like we’ve entered a different phase of his career.”
Dalton Miller, Pro Football Network: 21 (-1)
Miller: “The Titans couldn’t get Derrick Henry going at all against the Indianapolis Colts. He gained 43 yards on 13 carries, and his longest run only amounted to eight yards. Aside from DeAndre Hopkins, the offense couldn’t get anything going. The Titans only really had seven offensive drives, and they scored on four of the seven. However, their red-zone woes were their eventual downfall against their division rivals.”
K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire: 23 (-2)
Ryan Dunleavy, New York Post: 17 (-3)
Eric Edholm, NFL.com: 23 (-7)
Edholm: “The Titans’ seesaw season continued with another road loss following Week 4’s home victory; they’re now 0-3 outside Nashville. If there was a shocking takeaway from Sunday, it was that Indianapolis bullied Tennessee and kind of beat Mike Vrabel at his own game. Losing both lines of scrimmage while also losing the turnover battle and going 1-for-4 in the red zone is a tried-and-true path to defeat. I’d argue it was less stunning that Derrick Henry and the ground game stalled; we’ve seen that happen before. But what about the Titans’ vaunted run defense? It was steamrolled by the Colts, who almost netted more rushing yards (193) in this game than Tennessee allowed in the previous three games combined (211). “
Josh Schrock, NBC Sports: 22
Schrock: “The Titans are your clubhouse leader for Jekyll and Hyde team of the year. One week, they destroy the Bengals. Then, they trip over themselves against Gardner Minshew and the Colts. Yech.”
Bleacher Report: 22 (-2)
