There’s plenty of room for improvement in regards to the Tennessee Titans defense, so what will newcomer Shane Bowen bring to help remedy the situation?
It’s been an interesting three seasons for the Tennessee Titans under their current head coach, Mike Vrabel. In 2017, he was the defensive coordinator for the AFC South rival Houston Texans after spending three years as the club’s linebackers coach. And in 2018, he took over the top spot in Nashville. The Titans endured an up-and-down campaign and finished 9-7 but fell short of the playoffs.
That year, veteran Dean Pees was the defensive coordinator and the club finished eighth in the league in total yards allowed while only five clubs permitted fewer yards through the air. The pass-rush produced 39 sacks and although the Titans managed only 17 takeaways, they returned two interceptions for scores. All told, Pees’ unit gave up only 30 offensive touchdowns.
One year later, the club got hot down the stretch and parlayed a 9-7 wild-card berth into an appearance in the AFC title game. Pees’ unit wasn’t as staunch but proved to be opportunistic. Tennessee rolled up 43 sacks and forced 23 turnovers while allowing 39 offensive touchdowns. The veteran teacher opted for retirement after ’19 but after year off, he’s now the new defensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons.
In 2020, the Titans won the AFC South for the first time since 2008. But they didn’t actually name a replacement for Pees. However, minus the actual title last season, Shane Bowen actually handled the defensive play-calling this past season.
"“Shane will move into the dedicated role of coordinator,” explained Vrabel (via ESPN’s Turron Davenport) with Ryan taking over the outside linebackers this year, and I am looking forward to him growing in that role. We are going to work hard to improve that side of the ball through better coaching, improving our system and our players. I like the group we have on the defensive staff and I am confident that we will improve.”"
Only three teams in the NFL gave up more passing yards in ’20. And apparently there will be some changes in all aspects when it comes to a team that gave up 439 points and a defensive unit that allowed a whopping 54 offensive touchdowns (36 through the air) and managed only 19 sacks in 16 regular-season contests.
Ironically, the Titans sacked Lamar Jackson five times in the wild card playoffs but he also accounted for 136 of the team’s 236 yards rushing against the Tennessee defense.
Some may scoff at the decision to give Bowen the title, especially given the fact that the club seemingly couldn’t stop anyone in 2020. Defensive backs Kevin Byard and Malcolm Butler were the team’s top two tacklers. But the positive here is that the coach now has a year of experience under his headset. And perhaps the combined efforts of he and Vrabel and some additional talent on this side of the ball could result in dramatic improvement.