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After Tennessee Titans general manager Jon Robinson went to great lengths this past offseason to rebuild a defense that was putrid in 2020, the team has seen a resurgence in that area.
While the entirety of the defense has played well, the team’s front four has been particularly good and is no doubt the biggest catalyst for Tennessee’s turnaround on defense.
The Titans have mostly used some combination of Jeffery Simmons, Harold Landry, Denico Autry, Bud Dupree, Naquan Jones and Teair Tart upfront, but Simmons, Landry and Autry have shined the most.
That trio has combined for 28.5 of the team’s 41 sacks this season, and their combined sack total alone is more than the Titans had as a team in 2020 (19).
The pass-rush has also made a positive impact on the secondary. Consistent pressure always makes things easier for the defensive backfield, and it has allowed Tennessee to send more players into coverage as well.
Before practice on Wednesday, safety Kevin Byard praised the entire defense but proclaimed the Titans’ front four as the best in the NFL, according to John Glennon of Sports Illustrated.
“I like to brag on my guys a little bit because, I mean, honestly, me personally I think that we have the best defensive four front in the league,” Byard said. “From Bud (Dupree), to Denico (Autry), to Jeff (Simmons) and Harold (Landry), I’ll take those four guys over anybody in the league.”
“I think that this entire team has taken just a huge step forward this year, and I think it starts with those guys upfront,” Byard continued. “Getting pass-rush, stopping the run, I mean, I can’t speak enough good things about those guys.”
As good as Tennessee’s front has been at getting to the quarterback, it has been even better against the run.
The Titans currently sport the No. 2 run defense in the NFL, trailing only the Baltimore Ravens. Simmons said on Wednesday that the defense’s goal is to finish as the No. 1-ranked run defense, per ESPN’s Turron Davenport.
“We take a lot of pride in stopping the run,” Simmons said. “To me, it needs to be said that we are chasing that No. 1 spot and Baltimore is in front of us right now, I think by about 16 yards. But we’re chasing that No. 1 spot to be the No. 1 run defense.”
The man in charge, head coach Mike Vrabel, has rightly been talked about as an NFL Coach of the Year candidate, but we believe he deserves way more attention than he has been getting.
Not only are the Titans on the cusp of being the No. 1 seed, but they are set to accomplish that despite dealing with an insane amount of injuries that have led to the team fielding more players than any other squad in NFL history.
We already have Vrabel pegged as a front-runner for the award no matter what happens in Week 18, but the Titans securing the No. 1 seed should make him a lock.
As you’d expect, Vrabel has Byard’s vote for NFL Coach of the Year, per Ben Arthur of The Tennessean.
“The control I think he’s had over our entire team, just making sure we’re always prepared every single week,” Byard said. “We’ve talked about the record of having so many guys play and still be able to string together wins against playoff-quality teams. I think that type of résumé deserves high consideration for coach of the year. And I think he should win, especially if we can lock the (No.) 1 seed this week.”
We couldn’t agree more.
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