Why The Titans Defense Is Responsible For Their Turnaround

In order to determine the reason for Tennesse's unexpected turnaround, you have to figure out what was wrong in the first place.

Although Vince Young has been playing well, and has even had a better Quarterback Rating and a less touchdown-to-interception ratio than Kerry Collins, you have to consider that Kerry Collins pass attempts per game are nearly double that of Vince Young's, and the Titans were down quite a bit in some of those games trying to play catchup.

Overall, Kerry Collins was doing an efficient job; Vince has been playing well, but not that much better to put the credit on him for the recent success. I would even say that the only reason Vince Young started playing was for business reasons.

Bud "The Bird" Adams wanted to know if it was going to be worth keeping Vince Young's salary cap number or whether they needed to dump him. (So far the diagnosis would be to keep him, but the season's got a long way to go.)

So if the problem wasn't the quarterback position, then what was it?

The odd thing about this team is that they won 10 straight games last year and finished the season 13-3. But the only thing different on this team compared to last year's is that Albert Haynesworth is gone, they have a new Defensive Coordinator and their secondary was banged up in the early games of the season. Of those three pieces, the departure of coordinator Jim Schwartz to the Lions ended up being the most impactful.

Suddenly, the team that had the second BEST defense in the league a year ago became the second WORST defensive team in the league.

If a team decided to score, they just threw the ball deep. Although defenders would drop every errant throw, interceptions were often not the issue.  Receivers wouldn't even be covered, because they were out of position due to schemes and/or lack of coaching. 

In the first three games of the year the Titans played very close games and arguably played better than their opponent but just weren't able to finish strong in the fourth quarter, the one that really matters in a close game.

Then Cortland Finnegan got injured and they got pummeled by the Jacksonville Jaguars, followed by being killed by the Indianapolis Colts, and buried by the New England Patriots.

Here comes the bye-week, free agent pick-up, Roderick Hood, and the return of Cortland Finnegan. In the last three games Hood piled up 11 tackles and has had an interception in each game, one of them for a pick-six.  Finnegan has had two interceptions, one for a pick-six.

The defensive schemes improved, and although players were occasionally still out of position, the focus on improving the passing defense helped the team turn things around. It did provide weakness in the rushing game, ala Maurice Jones—Drew, but when they needed major third down stops they were able to get them whether it was through the passing or rushing defense, something they weren't able to do during the pummel, kill, and bury games.

With the improved defense, the offense started with better overall field position, and even if the offense's drive fizzled out, they weren't getting back on the field with a larger deficit on the board.

For the Titans to make the playoffs this year would be amazing, and this team has shown that they have that potential as seen last year. Unfortunately, they may have to win 10 games straight after going 0-6 in order to make the playoffs.

However, in order for them to beat the Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, and the Houston Texans, Michael Griffin will have to contribute like Finnegan and Hood.  To help Griffin regain last year's form, new Defensive Coordinator Chuck Cecil will need to continue to adjust and develop his schemes.

If the defense continues to improve, they very well could finish 10-6 or 9-6 and no one in the NFL would want to meet them in the playoffs.