The Titans finally broke through and defeated the Indianapolis Colts in front of a raucous crowd on Monday Night Football. The game ended well for Tennessee, but it looked like it might be getting away from the Titans when QB Marcus Mariota threw an off-balance interception that was returned by Colts Linebacker John Simon for a touchdown. Future Hall of Fame Kicker Adam Vinatieri surprisingly missed the ensuing extra point leaving the score at 19-9 Colts, but there was certainly an uneasy feeling in the stadium after that play unfolded.
After Simon’s impressive play for Indy, the Titans offense began to lean on their opposition however. The Titans offensive line – a standout group a year ago, put in an excellent half and began to wear down a tiring Colts front. After a special team’s gaffe and an Adam Vinatieri field goal, the Titans and Colts were all knotted up at 22-22 with 7:52 remaining in the ballgame. Rookie Wide Receiver Taywan Taylor burned the Colts deep and after an outstanding throw by Marcus Mariota, the rest they say is history.
This Titans 36-22 win was the first in the series for the Two-Tone Blue dating all the way back to 2011 season. Only four current Titans were even on the roster for the October 2011 win, so this was definitely an important milestone for the 2017 Tennessee team. The Titans have struggled in the division in recent years and winning divisional games has been a repeated point of emphasis since OTAs. Starting (2-1) in the division before an upcoming bye week is a great start toward achieving the goal of divisional success and eventually an AFC South title for this team.
Looking ahead, this week’s opponent is the Cleveland Browns who will enter the Dawg Pound Sunday winless sitting at (0-6). Even though the Browns are the only winless AFC team, they should not be taken lightly. All NFL teams have talent, and Cleveland Left Tackle Joe Thomas is a sure-fire Hall of Famer. The Browns are a disappointing (1-21) so far under Coach Hue Jackson and are still rebuilding. Nevertheless, Cleveland has been competitive in a number of games this season. The Browns have six losses, but three of those losses were by a field goal and two of those games happened at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Rookie DeShone Kizer out of Notre Dame will take the reins of the Browns offense again this week after Kevin Hogan started a week ago. Kizer has struggled with turnovers thus far in his freshman campaign in the NFL and he is only completing 50.9% of his passes on the season. If the Titans are able to get the pressure they put on the Colts and Jacoby Brissett then they could force Kizer into a number of contested throws. Additionally, for Cleveland, #1 overall pick Myles Garrett has recorded at least one sack in both of his appearances this season. Garrett is a game breaker and Titans tackles Taylor Lewan and Jack Conklin will have to continue protecting well against the former Texas A&M Aggie.
Overall, the Titans played well on offense in Monday night’s win. One issue that emerged repeatedly was difficulty punching the ball into the end zone inside the Colts red zone. Fortunately for Tennessee, the ever-reliable Ryan Succop made all five of his field goals on the evening, but the red zone struggles were concerning. Improving inside the opponent’s 20-yard line this week is an important step for the Titans offense before the bye.
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