Next Gen Stats captures Titans’ pass protection woes

The Titans played an awful game up front in Sunday’s loss to the Jets. Starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill was under constant duress and began looking shocked and afraid in the pocket. It’s tough to blame him, given the results. Tannehill was sacked an astounding seven times and was hit on plenty more occasions. Every single offensive lineman played a role in this epic failure. Tannehill has now been sacked a league-high 17 times through four weeks. If this keeps up, Tannehill won’t make it through the season.

Next Gen Stats is an excellent tool. Its advanced model often tells the story that the basic statistics don’t, and one of this week’s reveals for the Titans is a startling reveal that really captures how awful the Titans were in pass protection on Sunday. The Jets pressured Tannehill on 21 of his 56 dropbacks, which accounted for an astounding 37.5% pressure rate. Four different Jets defenders generated six or more pressures, making it a family affair. This is tied for the most in a game by ANY defense since the 2016 season. Just wow.

Six (!) different Jets players recorded sacks on Sunday — C.J. Mosley, Quincy Williams, Quinnen Williams, Bryce Hall, John Franklin-Myers and Bryce Huff. Mosley, Quinnen Willians, Franklin-Myers and Huff were especially dominant. The Titans’ starting five had no answers for them. The Jets used delayed blitzes on a frequent basis. Their blitz packages caused confusion up front, and the Titans never adjusted. They overwhelmed the Titans, who never figured out how to stop their attack. It also led to some miscommunication and missed assignments. It was the same look that constantly confused and defeated the Titans up front. The Jets had 21 TOTAL pressures through the first three weeks. They had 21(!) on Sunday against the Titans ALONE. It’s yet another embarrassing fact to be mentioned here.

The Titans need to be a lot better next Sunday.