Defensive Titan of the Week: Week 5

Without adding too much repetition, the Titans suffered an atrocious loss Sunday. Off the heels of a huge win, and Taylor Lewan demanding more respect, the Titans went out and played like that. It’s okay to be upset, you should be. The Titans are pissed off too, as they should be. They knew this was a game they needed to show up for, and they flat out disappeared. The tone of this game was set from the very beginning when Taylor fumbled leading to a Josh Allen rushing touchdown. Let’s discuss that rushing touchdown a little more. For a defense that has played so well of late, how do you let Josh Allen run it in on that play? Missed tackles and over pursuits played a large part in his touchdown, it was tough to stomach.

Defensive Titan of the Week

Wesley Woodyard was missed. He has been featured twice already this season as the defensive player of the week. Would Woodyard have made a difference in this game? He absolutely would have. Josh Allen doesn’t score that touchdown with Woodyard in the game. The entire script of the game would have been different. Woodyard was not there, and the Titans suffered. This week the Titans defensive player of the week is….no one. This team did not play well enough to warrant having a defensive player of the week. Coming off of increasingly better weeks, Harold Landry was nowhere to be found, Rashaan Evans hasn’t quite taken the step forward in his rookie season.

On top of that, Kamalei Correa had a couple head-scratching plays as well. It was an all-around effort to do everything in their power to lose this game. Perhaps the most concerning aspect of the game came when the Titans took the lead late in the fourth quarter. When you’re a contending team, with an above average defense, you trust them with the lead late in the fourth. You presume that your defense will make a play to stop a rookie quarterback with a below average offensive line. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and the Titans left Buffalo without a win.

Unexpected Issue

It was assumed that the Titans would register multiple sacks going into this game. This wasn’t the case, as the Titans only managed one sack via Jayon Brown. Against a lackluster offensive line who had let Allen be sacked 18 times already, this was a disappointment. The Titans have all the pieces to have a formidable pass rush, they just need to be consistent. The Titans have a lot of issues to handle before facing off against the Ravens this upcoming Sunday.