Year in and year out, the Tennessee Titans are lackluster on special teams, to say the least, and it has become a common occurrence for fans and media alike to call for special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman to be fired.
And those calls only grew stronger in Week 13, as the Titans’ special teams unit was an absolute disaster in the 31-28 overtime loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
The Titans had one punt blocked, which was returned for what turned out to be a crucial touchdown for the Colts. Then, Indy forced a fumble on the very next punt attempt after a hit on punter Ryan Stonehouse that caused what appeared to be a serious injury and eventually led to more points for Indy.
As if all that wasn’t enough, the Titans surrendered a 36-yard kickoff return in the first quarter, which helped setup Indy’s first touchdown drive of the game, and they missed an extra point that would’ve made the game 26-25.
The truth of the matter is, Aukerman should’ve been fired years ago but head coach Mike Vrabel continues to be irrationally loyal to him, and I have no doubt that will continue, even after what we saw in Week 13.
As has become the norm in recent years, Titans fans rightly wanted blood in the form of Aukerman getting the boot. Here’s what social media was saying about the embattled special teams coach.