Indianapolis Colts vs. Tennessee Titans: Full Report Card Grades for Tennessee
The Tennessee Titans were competitive in their Week 17 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts. While there were a few bright spots, in the end the Titans lost.
Either way, the season is over and the Titans finished 2-14, their lowest win total since moving to Tennessee. They'll also have the second overall pick in the 2015 draft.
The Titans wrapped up their season on a 10-game losing streak, with a defense that went from top 10 to bottom of the league and more questions at quarterback than answers.
So the season is over and the offseason begins for Tennessee. There is free agency to look into, and there will be personnel decisions to make both on the roster and in the coaching staff and front office.
Eventually, there will be the draft. Until then, here are report card grades for the Titans from their last game of 2014.
Quarterback
1 of 9
Charlie Whitehurst's performance showed the difference between teams like the New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars and a team like the Colts. In the last couple of games, his numbers were decent despite the losses. This week, not so much.
Whitehurst completed less than half his passes for a measly 72 yards. He did have a touchdown, but his yards per attempt was an abysmal 2.6. That is bad.
He also had four scrambles for 19 yards, bringing his total yardage for the game to a mere 91.
Grade: F
Running Back
2 of 9
The Titans didn’t spend much time on offense, and most of that time was spent playing from behind. As a result, as was usually the case, there weren’t many carries to go around.
Shonn Greene was by far the lead rusher with 11 carries for 94 yards, most of which came on a huge 52-yard breakaway.
Bishop Sankey saw four carries for 18 yards, and Leon Washington had two carries for the same number of yards.
Grade: D
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 9
Delanie Walker finally came through with another big game, catching seven passes for 43 yards. Kendall Wright only caught two passes for nine yards, but he was the coverage priority for Colts defenders and had a nice run early in the game for 10 yards, not to mention a touchdown grab.
Derek Hagan and Antonio Andrews each caught two passes for 16 and 11 yards, respectively, and that was the extent of the receiving. It was a rare weak performance by the Titans receivers.
Grade: D-
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Offensive Line
4 of 9
Again, the Titans had trouble with the offensive line. Whitehurst rarely had a ton of time in the pocket and was sacked four times.
They weren’t much better in run blocking, as the Colts managed five tackles for loss despite the small number of rushes the Titans had in the game.
It’s not surprising given the number of injuries within the unit, but it’s still a miserable performance.
Grade: F
Defensive Line
5 of 9
The Colts had their own offensive line troubles, but they still managed to keep Andrew Luck relatively safe from the Titans front seven.
The only lineman with a sack was DaQuan Jones, who managed his first career sack in a game that he contributed heavily in.
Sammie Hill had the biggest game despite leaving early with an injury. He picked up five tackles, all solo, including a tackle for loss.
Jurrell Casey was quiet with just three tackles and a tackle for loss, but he saw lots of double-teaming, so that’s not surprising.
Al Woods and Mike Martin had a tackle each, with Woods getting his behind the line of scrimmage. Woods also had a completely avoidable encroachment penalty that was costly.
Grade: B-
Linebacker
6 of 9
Derrick Morgan was once again the group's best player by a wide margin. He led the unit in tackles with five, had a tackle for loss and was a constant presence in the Colts backfield. He’s also an impending free agent who the Titans may not be able to keep.
Wesley Woodyard had five tackles as well, followed by Avery Williamson, who had four. Williamson missed tackling Reggie Wayne on his big reception, but Wayne wasn’t his assignment and linebackers aren’t expected to cover wide receivers often anyway.
Grade: C+
Secondary
7 of 9
Jason McCourty didn’t show up in the stats, but he had one of his best games of the season. He made a touchdown-saving tackle on Reggie Wayne and won his matchups more often than not.
Coty Sensabaugh had a great game statistically with three defended passes, but he was the defender on Wayne for that long catch-and-run and his tackling problems showed up again. He did have some nice plays to make up for it though.
Brandon Harris was solid—and may find himself with the Titans longer than I thought.
Both Daimion Stafford and Michael Griffin contributed to pressuring Andrew Luck, and the two tied for the most tackles on the team with seven.
There were some mistakes by the group, but there were more good plays than bad.
Grade: B-
Special Teams
8 of 9
Leon Washington had a quality game as a returner, with one 52-yarder that set the Titans up for their only touchdown.
However, they also allowed a huge kick return by Josh Cribbs for 76 yards, so that ended up being a net loss.
Brett Kern and Ryan Succop each had solid games, with Kern averaging 54.7 yards per punt—including three inside the 20—and Succop nailing every kick.
Punt returns were nothing to write home about for either squad.
Grade: C-
Coaching
9 of 9
Well, there’s not much to say here about head coach Ken Whisenhunt. After all, there’s not much that can happen in the last game of the season to change anything when the team is already 2-13.
What I would’ve liked to see is more substitutions in the second half. A lot of the Titans players are essentially unknown commodities. For example, is Antonio Andrews worth keeping around? He had an excellent preseason, but he didn’t get any carries.
On the other side of the ball, defensive coordinator Ray Horton dialed up safety blitzes when he could, and it’s been effective all season. It was depressing to see the Colts put up so many points, but it’s always hard to fault Horton when the offense can’t stay on the field.
Grade: C
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