Titans vs. Patriots: Tennessee Grades, Notes & Quotes
A commendable effort by the Tennessee Titans still wasn't enough to take down the New England Patriots in Foxborough.
The game started with the same lack of energy from the Titans that we saw last week against the New York Jets, but Tennessee stepped up its effort in the second half to keep things mildly interesting. However, the talent gap between these two teams eventually took over.
It's painfully clear that this team needs to build more weapons around quarterback Marcus Mariota, who was sidelined with a knee injury early in the first half. Backup quarterback Zach Mettenberger played well in relief to keep the game somewhat close.
With the 33-16 loss, the Titans fall to 3-11 and are in the driver's seat for the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
Position Grades for Titans
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Quarterback: C+
Marcus Mariota had another rough week before being knocked out due to injury. The injury was to his right knee, per Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com.
Before the injury, Mariota was getting very little time to find open receivers and get into a comfort zone. He fumbled on the sack that injured him, and fumbling has been a growing problem for him.
It looked like Mariota was prepared to come back in, but the Titans elected to take the cautious route by sticking with Zach Mettenberger for the rest of the game.
Mettenberger showed off his strong arm on a few throws, including a 30-yard pass to Dorial Green-Beckham that led the charge on the first touchdown drive to cut the lead to 24-10.
You often have to take the good with the bad when analyzing Mettenberger. He had two interceptions, with one of them being an inaccurate throw that bounced off the hands of Delanie Walker. The Titans were down by just two touchdowns when this turnover occurred.
Running Back: C-
It wasn't an efficient game for Antonio Andrews with just 45 yards on 14 carries. He also missed a critical block that led to the sack on Mariota that forced him out of the game, as interim head coach Mike Mularkey noted (via Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com).
Despite the lack of production, the loyalty that was shown to the running game allowed Tennessee to win the time of possession battle and keep it alive late in the game.
Rookie David Cobb chipped in just nine yards on four attempts.
Wide Receiver: B-
Sometimes you just have to find some silver lining during a 3-11 season, and you can do that when you look at what Dorial Green-Beckham is doing. He's emerging into a legitimate threat, and his future seems bright once the offense finds more stability.
Green-Beckham eclipsed 500 receiving yards on the season after this outing, catching six of his nine targets.
Outside of Green-Beckham, the team is still struggling to find any production from the unit. Harry Douglas was the only other wide receiver to even see a target.
Tight End: B+
Delanie Walker continues to fight hard every week. His long touchdown catch happened thanks to his relentless will to score. He broke tackles and tip-toed on the sideline to make it an 11-point game.
After this game, Walker deserves a hard look for Pro Bowl consideration.
Offensive Line: F
Horrible outing from this unit. They didn't block well for the run game and missed multiple blocks primarily on the edges. This forced the pocket to collapse and left very little time for passing routes to develop.
Pass protection was a major issue in this particular game, according to Kuharsky.
The unit gave up five sacks overall. It's very disheartening that the offensive line keeps playing so poorly despite all of the attention this organization has shown to it in recent years.
Defensive Line: B
It was a yeoman's effort from the defensive line. They got considerable pressure on Tom Brady, who simply showed why he's one of the best of all time with some of the throws he made with rushers in his face.
The big completion that stands out was the strike from Brady to Brandon LaFell that converted a third down late in the fourth quarter. A lot of pressure was put in the face of Brady on this play, but he still stepped up and made the huge completion to avoid a punt. That essentially ended the game, but the Tennessee defensive line definitely made Brady work for it.
Jurrell Casey and Karl Klug each had a sack.
Linebacker: C+
It was a mixed bag from the Tennessee linebackers, who really lost their spark when Derrick Morgan went down with a season-ending shoulder injury a few weeks ago. They haven't been able to generate nearly as much pressure in the backfield, which was igniting the defense early on.
The tackling was suspect from the entire defense, including at the linebacker position. With that said, they did an outstanding job at limiting opportunities for Brady to throw down the middle of the field to Rob Gronkowski and Scott Chandler.
Avery Williamson led the team with nine tackles, and David Bass had a solid day with two tackles for loss.
Cornerback: C-
Too many missed tackles was the main issue from the secondary. They actually put forth a semi-decent effort in keeping Brady from completely taking over the game. However, they got off to a sluggish start that helped the Patriots get the early lead with Brady connecting on his first eight passes.
Special Teams: D+
A missed extra point wasn't the only thing to shake your head in disgust over from the special teams unit. That mishap had very little impact on the final result, but a few other costly mistakes did.
Kickoff returns have been an issue all season, and it didn't get any better in this game. Tre McBride fumbled in the end zone, which should have ended with him kneeling. Instead, he decided to bring it out, leaving the Titans to start at their own 10-yard line.
The forced fumble by Phillip Supernaw on a New England punt return breathed some life back into the Titans. However, the offense was unable to cash in for a touchdown, instead settling for a field goal. Momentum swung right back to New England on a long punt return that gave the Patriots a short field to score another touchdown.
It was a superb outing from Brett Kern as he had five punts that averaged nearly 50 yards a pop. He regularly forced the Patriots to drive a long field.
Coaching: B
Mularkey stands very little chance of becoming the full-time head coach for 2016, but he is coaching his tail off with the limited resources he has. His team came up on the losing end, but you could tell that it isn't giving up under his leadership.
Mularkey also made the smart decision by not rushing Mariota back into the game and risking further injury to the organization's prized long-term investment. It was probably very tempting to put Mariota back in, but made the right choice by realizing that the high risk of aggravating the injury was not worth it.
Marcus Mariota Knocked out with Knee Injury
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His knee bending awkwardly on a sack was enough to keep Mariota from returning to the game. He had already been sacked three times at an early point in the game, and there was no point in throwing Mariota back into the fire with the pass protection looking so poor.
The real question now is how the Titans will handle these last two games with Mariota. There's virtually nothing to play for in terms of the standings, and the feisty Houston Texans are up next on the schedule.
I wouldn't be surprised at all if we don't see Mariota next week and see Mettenberger get another start against the Texans. It may be important for Mariota to keep getting critical development, but it's equally important to protect a player who may not be 100 percent for the rest of 2015.
If Mariota does suit up next week, then hold your breath that the Texans pass rush doesn't tee off on him like they did against Mettenberger for seven sacks in Week 8. It's a tough call either way, and it will be very interesting to see how they handle it.
Zach Mettenberger Shows Mixed Results in Relief Effort
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We've seen this episode plenty of times—Mettenberger gets thrown into a difficult situation and has to make something out of nothing. This time around, it yielded mixed results.
Mettenberger definitely reiterated in his performance that he has a cannon for an arm that can make all of the necessary throws at the NFL level. But his poor decision-making when he has to handle pressure continues to be a big problem for him.
It was amazingly still a two-possession game in the fourth quarter up until Mettenberger's ill-advised interception which was far out of the reach of Walker. This unfortunate turnover came during a drive that had the Titans in New England territory and looking to really make things interesting.
Mettenberger needs top-notch pass protection to be really effective, and the Titans are far from that luxury.
You have to ask yourself if Mettenberger did anything to increase his trade value, or if the Titans will elect to hold onto him as a backup.
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Delanie Walker Keeps on Battling
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Walker almost single-handedly brought the Titans back to within striking distance of the defending Super Bowl champions. This guy keeps battling despite opposing defenses knowing that he's the only reliable receiver the Titans have.
Two more touchdowns by Walker in this game brought his season total to six. His 57-yard touchdown was on a short completion, but his determination to score extended the play as he broke tackles en route to the end zone. It cut the lead to 11 points, and it showed that Gronkowski wasn't the only tight end on the field worthy of Pro Bowl honors.
Walker is definitely one of the few bright spots on this offense around whom the front office has to build for the future. He has earned himself a nice payday when his contract expires.
Mike Mularkey on Missed Block by Antonio Andrews
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A missed block by running back Antonio Andrews looked to have been the reason for Mariota taking the sack that knocked him out of the game.
Mularkey said that Andrews didn't block well enough for Mariota to be protected, per John Glennon of the Tennessean.
These are the types of things that should be expected when you're dealing with so many young players at skill positions. Being an effective NFL running back isn't just about putting up a lot of yards; it's also about chipping in on pass protection, and young players like Andrews usually struggle with that adjustment.
Until these young players get more time to develop, this will keep being an issue. You have to remember that this is basically Andrews' rookie year with him hardly playing in his actual rookie season.
Delanie Walker on the Team's Effort
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It's always easy to question a team's effort at this late point in the season when there is nothing to play for in the standings. This organization has gone down this dark, lonely road a lot in recent years.
Despite all of the losing, it's fair to say this team got up off the mat and fought hard in a game in which it could have easily quit.
You definitely don't have to question Walker's drive as he continues to fight to pull this offense out of its funk. He commented on the team's effort against the Super Bowl-contending Patriots, per Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com: "We’ve got fight—that’s the positive side. The negative side is we hurt ourselves, week after week we hurt ourselves. And we have to stop that.”
The mistakes on special teams, the sloppy tackling and the three turnovers would all fall under that category of the team hurting itself. When the margin for error is already so small, these types of mistakes leave you virtually no chance of beating anyone.
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