NFL Notebook, Divisional Round: Predictions, Titans magic, LSU and more
By Zach Cohen
Remember Them Now?
Remember when I told you to not sleep on the Titans? I’d like to believe your eyes are wide open now.
The secret behind Tennessee’s resurgence? A tenacious, old-school, smash-mouth roster.
Running back Derrick Henry is an absolute tank. He averaged the fourth-most rushing yards per attempt this season. Even crazier was that playerprofiler.com shows that Henry has created more yards after the first evaded tackle than anyone in the league.
For Kansas City’s sake, they better hope star defensive lineman Chris Jones back to alleviate the inevitable stress brought on by Henry. The second aspect of the Titans’ climb to glory has been their defense. Their defense held two teams averaging more than 25 points a game to 13 points (New England) and 12 (Baltimore).
If you watched the game, you would know that Tennessee applied relentless pressure on Lamar Jackson, sometimes without even blitzing. If you’re big into numbers though, the dynamic duo of Jurrell Casey and Harold Landry combined for three sacks, two tackles for loss and three quarterback hits.
Props have to be given to coach Mike Vrabel. He was a fast riser as a coach following his 14-season career as an outside linebacker. He was a tenacious defender himself, so it shouldn’t be too surprising that he brings that level of grit and fire to his team.