Defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson allowed lowest yardage total of any Tennessee Titans opponent since 2010.
In the locker room after Sunday’s disappointing 24-17 loss to the Chicago Bears, the Tennessee Titans’ preeminent team leader seemed more cheerful than would have been anticipated.
“I feel great,” defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons said. “It’s frustrating to lose, but I’m motivated.”
As a defensive player, it wasn’t misguided to feel as he did.
The Bears had gained 148 net offensive yards, the fewest against the Titans in nearly 14 years, going back to a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 19, 2010. Oddly enough, the Titans lost that day, too. The Steelers gained only 127 yards and seven first downs but won 19-11 because of a kickoff return touchdown from a rookie receiver named Antonio Brown and seven (!) Titans turnovers.
Special teams and offensive miscues also could be blamed in this latest defeat, and that is overshadowing how stunningly encouraging a debut this was for Titans defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson.
A hyped Bears offense with a host of skill-position talent and this year’s No. 1 overall draft pick in quarterback Caleb Williams mustered little against the Titans. Yes, Williams was a rookie in his NFL debut. But anyone remember Will Levis’ first NFL start as a rookie? He threw four touchdowns.
On Sunday, Williams didn’t complete a pass longer than 13 yards.
“We did a hell of a job,” Simmons said. “It’s something we can build off.”
Tougher afternoons are ahead, surely (Aaron Rodgers, ahoy) but there’s reason to believe this may have only been a beginning for a Titans defense that couldn’t have been expected to be anywhere near its potential in Week 1.
This is a bunch of strangers. They are still getting accustomed to playing together. Early days should have been their most difficult, not the franchise’s most effective in more than a decade.
Of the Titans’ 11 starters Sunday, six weren’t on the team last season. New cornerbacks L’Jarius Sneed and Chidobe Awuzie barely practiced in the preseason. The Titans signed safety Quandre Diggs after the start of training camp, and linebacker Ernest Jones — who didn’t start but split time with Jack Gibbens — didn’t arrive from the Los Angeles Rams via trade until after final roster cuts in late August.
Additions like that can often be red flags about a team’s status. Front offices typically aren’t spending at the 11th hour to add starters unless there’s an urgent need. And for weeks, the Titans were adding last-minute help on defense.
The unit was indeed upgraded, most notably with Sneed and Awuzie, and rookie lineman T’Vondre Sweat, who was drafted in the second round. But for the most part, this defense had no business sprinting out of the gate as it did Sunday.
Wilson — who’d never had an NFL defense to call his own as a coach — was asked to take all of these new ingredients and blend them into something delicious and cohesive in time for Week 1.
And guess what? He did.
“Our defense had a really, really nice performance,” Callahan said Monday.
Callahan singled out Sweat for praise. For all the concerns about the big man’s weight and conditioning, Sweat was out there for 68% of the defensive snaps Sunday. He’s going to be a problem for offenses.
The entire defensive line, though, was productive.
Jones, the new linebacker, had a third-and-goal play in which he blitzed and trucked the Bears’ center, blowing up the play by tipping a pass as it came out of Williams’ hand. And that unfamiliar secondary held up well, too, disappointing fantasy football owners who expected a lot more than 36 receiving yards from D.J. Moore and 29 from Keenan Allen.
Had the Titans won, we’d be talking about that defense. Instead, everyone is fretting about Levis and the offense and that’s understandable. Can’t ignore what cost the Titans an oh-so-winnable game.
Shouldn’t ignore why it was winnable in the first place, though.
There were fears — reasonable fears — that this Titans defense might stink.
Doesn’t yet.
After Week 1, it’s the best in the NFL.
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.
Source link : https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnists/gentry-estes/2024/09/10/tennessee-titans-defense-dennard-wilson-jeffery-simmons-tvondre-sweat/75091291007/
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Publish date : 2024-09-10 05:43:00
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