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To be completely honest with you, it was the Seattle Seahawks defense that I expected to see against the Tennessee Titans. While they played well against the Indianapolis Colts, the Colts don’t have a good quarterback or a good set of receiving targets. Tennessee has a great quarterback, a great running back and a dangerous wide receiver duo.
What was the end result? The horrific defense the Seahawks put on at the start of the 2020 season and much of the 2019 campaign, overseen by much-maligned Ken Norton Jr. Tennessee rushed over 200 yards, amassed over 500 yards total attack and had 9 of their 12 workouts (subtracting the kneel at halftime) end in Seattle territory. The Titans have only kicked twice and one was in the opening series. Outside of Alton Robinson’s backpack they were never close to getting another takeaway and if you keep track of it this is the fourth straight game without an interception for the Seahawks dating back to last season.
The 33 points awarded flattered them honestly. They could and should have given up more. Tennessee have had at least six abandoned passes and I’m still not 100% convinced Julio Jones’ touchdown should have been called off. The fun thing about “bending but not breaking” is what happens when you no longer have the ability to bend.
Behind a save left tackle and ultimately a save left guard, Ryan Tannehill was barely under pressure on his 40+ setbacks. Julio Jones had over 100 receiving yards at halftime. Derrick Henry amassed 147 rushing yards in the 2nd half and 55 receiving yards on a career-high 6 catches. In fact, his only games where he had more receiving yards were single catch touchdowns of 77 and 66 yards. Seattle struggled to manage screens last week and failed to defend against the Titans again.
The possession time was comically in Tennessee’s favor (44 minutes to 22 minutes) and they ran 83 games to just 52 for the Seahawks. Part of that was Seattle’s inability to sustain offensive attacks apart from very quick touchdowns. The other part was the build-up of the Titans 33 first tries while passing a modest 6/14 in the 3rd down. The Seahawks have given them the first downs by penalty a half-dozen times.
Getting shredded in the beginning is a recipe for disaster. Observe these drives, starting the position of the field in parentheses:
- First basket of the Titans (TEN 15): Four 3rd held face, three converts (one by penalty).
- Second basket of the Titans (TEN 20): Only 3rd down was Bobby Wagner’s sack to force a field goal.
- Third Basket of the Titans (RTE 31): Only the 3rd try was the reverse touchdown by Julio Jones.
- Titans’ first touchdown (TEN 20): Only 3rd down was a 3rd and 1 to 40, which was easily converted by Tannehill.
- Titans second touchdown (OWN 25): No 3rd down. Two-game training.
- Third touchdown of the Titans (TEN 32): Only 3rd down was 3rd and 1st at Seattle’s 5, which Henry ran for 4 yards.
- Titans field goal winner (SEA 39): Only 3rd down was just to get a shorter field goal for Randy Bullock.
That doesn’t even include when the Titans started from their own 8 and didn’t get a 3rd down until they were already good on Seattle territory. Randy Bullock missed a field goal to end the race.
I think when they’re healthy, the Titans have a hell of a good offense, if not a great one. But that’s the problem. Seattle fattened its defensive record late last season by playing a host of bad quarterbacks. This was the first real test of the Seahawks’ supposedly new and improved defense and they were absurdly bad, sloppy and unruly while playing with a lead for most of the game. And while I love Bryan Mone, there’s no way his absence led to this ending.
There is still a lot of season left and literally more than ever. They are 1-1 and not 0-2 … it just stings that they are not 2-0 when they had a 14 point lead in the 4th quarter. But Sunday’s loss is exactly why I’m not convinced the Seahawks will win NFC West. This defense is too talented to be so underwhelming and if it doesn’t start to perform better against quality attacks – the Minnesota and the Los Angeles Rams are upon us – then there will be real cause for concern about the leadership of this team.
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