If not for the defense, the Tennessee Titans might have let one get away from them during the Week 3 contest against the Indianapolis Colts.
As a result, this week’s Player of the Game honors go to the entire unit for what was an outstanding performance overall. Tennessee’s defense held the Colts to just 265 yards of total offense, including 178 through the air.
In three red-zone trips, the Titans managed to keep Indianapolis to just one score, and the Colts were a putrid 3-for-12 on third downs.
Of the 16 points Indy scored, 10 of them were following a turnover, and its lone touchdown came on the drive following one of Ryan Tannehill’s interceptions that set the Colts up near midfield to start the series.
The area of the defense that shined the most was the pass-rush, led by Ola Adeniyi and Harold Landry. Adeniyi notched 1.5 sacks and three QB hits, while Landry posted 0.5 sacks and an impressive five QB hits.
With Denico Autry’s two QB hits, the Titans totaled 10 on the afternoon and had Carson Wentz under pressure all game long, forcing him to get rid of the football thanks to his limited mobility that would have led to more sacks.
Tennessee’s secondary did a solid job in coverage, led by Kristian Fulton, who helped hold the Colts’ No. 1 receiver, Michael Pittman Jr., to just six catches for 68 yards.
There were still a few big completions of 36 and 27 yards, but that’s a big improvement after what we saw last week, and there didn’t appear to be any communication issues on those plays.
It’s rare we give credit to defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, but he deserves it here.
Granted, he certainly didn’t call a perfect game by any stretch and is still calling puzzling coverages here and there, but there’s no question this Tennessee defense is showing major improvement from week-to-week.
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