Oldfaithful
Hall of Famer
After a disastrous trap game, the Ravens went into the music city with next to no expectations from any of the fanbase. Why would we, the new offense did not show up against the Browns? Flacco had an off game, Crabtree dropped a potential game winner, and most importantly Marty had a terrible game plan. The offense, for the most part, has been firing on all cylinders except the run game. The Titans have been hyped by some notable fans in the NFL community such as Brett Kollman, and to be fair it looks like they are well coached.
I believe that this game is highly significant. The Titans had the best defense we have faced this season, and we utterly dominated them on the offensive side of the ball. Alex Collins is starting to look like the Collins of last season. Shifty, quick, explosive in a short area burst and Buck Allen was better utilized in the passing game. Gus Edwards looks like he is a better compliment than anticipated to those two, which is highly useful going forward for the team. I firmly believe that this week established that the running backs are not the issue(though an upgrade in the future certainly would not hurt). Flacco had a solid game from start to finish, and while he missed a few throws, he routinely put us in position to win. Which makes sense, Dean Pees is a good defensive coordinator, but we are very familiar with him despite the talented unit, and he is not too familiar with our new-look offense. Special teams also looked much improved, as Cyrus Jones had a couple of nice returns. And while our offense was dominant, the score does not truly indicate it. There’s still a lot to improve as we had excellent field position and did not capitalize on it as we should have. To be fair, the Titans have an excellent defense, but there were several plays where we shot ourselves in the foot. Marty had a terrible play call when he sent Willie Snead, professional third down converter posing as an NFL wide receiver, deep on a third down when that goes against his skillset, or Flacco throwing off of his back foot to a wide-open Crabtree. This offense is a very good unit, but we have a lot of kinks to work out.
That said, this season has proved that the hype for this defense is very real. The Titans have two of the best bookend tackles in the entire league, yet we still put up a franchise record for sacks. Don Martindale has proven himself to be an excellent defensive coordinator. The defense has been glorious these first six weeks. The rotations are excellent in the front seven. Terrell Suggs is an ageless wonder who is still an all-pro caliber edge rusher. Za’Darius Smith has finally learned how to finish and had the best game of his entire career. While the stat sheet does not show it, Tim Williams was also consistently putting pressure on Mariota too. While Matt Judon has been disappointing, the edge rushers are very good, and all three are displaying significant talent. Judon and Bowser need to work out the kinks that they have, but we are in good hands. The interior pressure has been much improved this season. Brent Urban, Willie Henry, Chris Wormley, and Michael Pierce have been very good defensive linemen who do everything well, and Brandon Williams has consistently been stout against the run. CJ Mosley and Kenny Young form arguably the most underrated inside linebacker duo in the league. The front seven dominated today, making the job easier for one of the league’s best secondaries. Marlon Humphrey and Brandon Carr have been excellent this season, and Tavon Young is proving that the Bengals game was merely a fluke. Jimmy Smith does not need to rush back; we are in good hands. Weddle and Jefferson have been the duo we thought they would be in 2017.
The Titans have struggled all year on the offensive side of the ball, but no one, not even the vaunted Jacksonville defense shut them out, in their own home nonetheless. Granted, Marcus Mariota and Derrick Henry respectively are proving me correct in the sense that neither are quality players, but to set the franchise record for sacks is more indicative of an excellent performance from the defense rather than a horrid performance from the quarterback. Though Mariota was terrible, we had more sacks than he did completions, which is a pathetic performance all around. The Titans are who we were last year. A team with a pathetic offense and a very good defense.
I know last week reignited the “same old ravens” moniker, but even in the early Harbaugh days, we were needlessly inconsistent from game to game. If this team is the "same old ravens" then we are back in 2011-2012 form, which is okay because we should have gotten two super bowls out of that time period. At this point my prediction that this defense would be the best we’ve had since 2011 has been proven to be correct because this defense is better. The only way this defense could be better is if we replaced Weddle with once in a lifetime player Ed Reed, but we still have an all pro safety in Weddle so I will not complain. This defense is arguably the best defense we have had during the Harbaugh era. We have pro bowl caliber players at every single position, and every starter on this defense is a well above average one. It would not be a stretch to say that this defense is an elite unit. The Bengals game was an aberration and a symptom of growing pains for having a green defensive coordinator. This defense is every offense’s worst nightmare. It is a complete unit. Smart, strong, and has the speed to boot, and absurd amounts of depth at all but one position. At full health, this defense is a juggernaut who can not only get to the quarterback but can cover you if the pass rush is lacking. In an increasingly offensive league, having an elite defense is all the more valuable, and the first six weeks has proven that this defense is special, and if we go to the playoffs this year, it will be because of them.
The only real loss this team had was Alex Lewis(I hope he gets better) and this might be a blessing in disguise for the team. The Baltimore Ravens only have one weakness: run blocking. For the first six games, the fans have been clamoring for Orlando Brown to be inserted into the starting lineup. This offensive line has been excellent in pass protection, but the run game has been lacking. This injury might force Hurst to move back to guard where he is far superior across the board.
Overall this win was a statement win. The Titans are widely viewed as a playoff team, and we shut them out in their own house, where they are very tough to beat (they have only lost two games at home over the past two seasons). Next week is a big test, the high flying New Orleans Saints. I had this at a loss at the start of the season, but truth be told this team is much better than even I anticipated.
All in all, we came out of this road stretch, which I had as one of the tougher parts of this season, at 2-1. The Titans are a good team because of that defense; we are a Super Bowl contender, and one of the most balanced teams in the league. If our defense displays more dominance next week, then I would expect the postseason.
You should have stayed retired Dean; We don’t miss you.
I believe that this game is highly significant. The Titans had the best defense we have faced this season, and we utterly dominated them on the offensive side of the ball. Alex Collins is starting to look like the Collins of last season. Shifty, quick, explosive in a short area burst and Buck Allen was better utilized in the passing game. Gus Edwards looks like he is a better compliment than anticipated to those two, which is highly useful going forward for the team. I firmly believe that this week established that the running backs are not the issue(though an upgrade in the future certainly would not hurt). Flacco had a solid game from start to finish, and while he missed a few throws, he routinely put us in position to win. Which makes sense, Dean Pees is a good defensive coordinator, but we are very familiar with him despite the talented unit, and he is not too familiar with our new-look offense. Special teams also looked much improved, as Cyrus Jones had a couple of nice returns. And while our offense was dominant, the score does not truly indicate it. There’s still a lot to improve as we had excellent field position and did not capitalize on it as we should have. To be fair, the Titans have an excellent defense, but there were several plays where we shot ourselves in the foot. Marty had a terrible play call when he sent Willie Snead, professional third down converter posing as an NFL wide receiver, deep on a third down when that goes against his skillset, or Flacco throwing off of his back foot to a wide-open Crabtree. This offense is a very good unit, but we have a lot of kinks to work out.
That said, this season has proved that the hype for this defense is very real. The Titans have two of the best bookend tackles in the entire league, yet we still put up a franchise record for sacks. Don Martindale has proven himself to be an excellent defensive coordinator. The defense has been glorious these first six weeks. The rotations are excellent in the front seven. Terrell Suggs is an ageless wonder who is still an all-pro caliber edge rusher. Za’Darius Smith has finally learned how to finish and had the best game of his entire career. While the stat sheet does not show it, Tim Williams was also consistently putting pressure on Mariota too. While Matt Judon has been disappointing, the edge rushers are very good, and all three are displaying significant talent. Judon and Bowser need to work out the kinks that they have, but we are in good hands. The interior pressure has been much improved this season. Brent Urban, Willie Henry, Chris Wormley, and Michael Pierce have been very good defensive linemen who do everything well, and Brandon Williams has consistently been stout against the run. CJ Mosley and Kenny Young form arguably the most underrated inside linebacker duo in the league. The front seven dominated today, making the job easier for one of the league’s best secondaries. Marlon Humphrey and Brandon Carr have been excellent this season, and Tavon Young is proving that the Bengals game was merely a fluke. Jimmy Smith does not need to rush back; we are in good hands. Weddle and Jefferson have been the duo we thought they would be in 2017.
The Titans have struggled all year on the offensive side of the ball, but no one, not even the vaunted Jacksonville defense shut them out, in their own home nonetheless. Granted, Marcus Mariota and Derrick Henry respectively are proving me correct in the sense that neither are quality players, but to set the franchise record for sacks is more indicative of an excellent performance from the defense rather than a horrid performance from the quarterback. Though Mariota was terrible, we had more sacks than he did completions, which is a pathetic performance all around. The Titans are who we were last year. A team with a pathetic offense and a very good defense.
I know last week reignited the “same old ravens” moniker, but even in the early Harbaugh days, we were needlessly inconsistent from game to game. If this team is the "same old ravens" then we are back in 2011-2012 form, which is okay because we should have gotten two super bowls out of that time period. At this point my prediction that this defense would be the best we’ve had since 2011 has been proven to be correct because this defense is better. The only way this defense could be better is if we replaced Weddle with once in a lifetime player Ed Reed, but we still have an all pro safety in Weddle so I will not complain. This defense is arguably the best defense we have had during the Harbaugh era. We have pro bowl caliber players at every single position, and every starter on this defense is a well above average one. It would not be a stretch to say that this defense is an elite unit. The Bengals game was an aberration and a symptom of growing pains for having a green defensive coordinator. This defense is every offense’s worst nightmare. It is a complete unit. Smart, strong, and has the speed to boot, and absurd amounts of depth at all but one position. At full health, this defense is a juggernaut who can not only get to the quarterback but can cover you if the pass rush is lacking. In an increasingly offensive league, having an elite defense is all the more valuable, and the first six weeks has proven that this defense is special, and if we go to the playoffs this year, it will be because of them.
The only real loss this team had was Alex Lewis(I hope he gets better) and this might be a blessing in disguise for the team. The Baltimore Ravens only have one weakness: run blocking. For the first six games, the fans have been clamoring for Orlando Brown to be inserted into the starting lineup. This offensive line has been excellent in pass protection, but the run game has been lacking. This injury might force Hurst to move back to guard where he is far superior across the board.
Overall this win was a statement win. The Titans are widely viewed as a playoff team, and we shut them out in their own house, where they are very tough to beat (they have only lost two games at home over the past two seasons). Next week is a big test, the high flying New Orleans Saints. I had this at a loss at the start of the season, but truth be told this team is much better than even I anticipated.
All in all, we came out of this road stretch, which I had as one of the tougher parts of this season, at 2-1. The Titans are a good team because of that defense; we are a Super Bowl contender, and one of the most balanced teams in the league. If our defense displays more dominance next week, then I would expect the postseason.
You should have stayed retired Dean; We don’t miss you.
