The Titans got a critical win over a division rival

for a second straight week as the Tennessee defense out-dueled the vaunted Jacksonville defense and turned Blake Bortles in to... well... Blake Bortles. Ugly or not http://www.titansfootballauthentics.com/jayon-brown-jersey-authentic , it was a huge win for a team that has proven resilient early in this 2018 NFL season. Here are the winners and losers from the game. WinnersMarcus MariotaIt’s rare that the quarterback of a game that finished 9-6 can be considered a winner, but Mariota certainly deserves to be listed here. He finished 12 of 18 for 100 yards passing and added 7 carries for 51 yards on the ground, but the stat line does little to describe how well Mariota played despite being less than 100% and facing one of the best defenses in the NFL. He also had a couple critical drops by receivers on good throws that could have extended drives. Most importantly, his throws were on target and appeared to have plenty of zip. The Titans didn’t ask him to do much with regards to attacking deep down field, but he capably executed the plays that were called. Regardless of Gabbert’s status with the concussion, I’d suspect that Mariota is back under center when the Titans take on the defending champs next week.The respect for Mariota’s gutsy performance was evident in his teammates post game comments. Taylor Lewan called his quarterback a wolf and said he’d follow him anywhere while Ben Jones called Mariota one of the toughest guys that he knows. Getting a healthy — or at least healthy enough — Mariota moving forward is crucial and it sure looks like things moved in the right direction today.The DefenseIt’s hard to single out just one guy from what was an outstanding group effort from the defense. Wesley Woodyard certainly stood out, racking up 12 tackles, 1 sack, 2 tackles for loss, and 1 pass defensed. Jurrell Casey was active once again, picking up his 3rd sack of the season. Harold Landry’s outstanding pass rush on 3rd down of the Jags second to last drive ultimately got the defense off the field and gave the offense a chance to nearly run the clock out.The Jaguars helped out with a few unforced errors, but the Titans defense was outstanding throughout the game. The secondary completely took away the deep passing game that torched the Patriots a week earlier, limiting Keelan Cole, Dede Westbrook, and Donte Moncrief to just 10 catches and 74 yards combined. The Titans defense has carried the team the last two weeks while the offense has been banged up. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a defense capable of this kind of shut down performance in Tennessee.Mike VrabelThe Titans rookie head coach is pressing all the right buttons right now. Getting back to back division wins despite the extreme injury circumstances is an impressive start. There is no doubt that they will need the offense to start picking up steam, but the Titans coaching staff has put together winning game plans with the hands they’ve been dealt.Vrabel has talked about a team’s culture being measured by how they respond to adversity and after two weeks it’s clear that the culture surrounding this team is in a good spot. If you listen to quotes from his players it’s pretty clear that this team loves playing for this guy and it is showing on the field.Dane CruikshankCruikshank has been the star of the Titans excellent special teams unit so far this season. Last week he caught a fake punt pass and took it the distance for a touchdown. This week he thwarted the Jags fake punt attempt when he recognized the play, got up field, and forced Jaguars back Corey Grant wide. He didn’t get the tackle, but his play gave LeShaun Sims and Jayon Brown the time they needed to rally to the ball and make the stop short of the first down. His work as a gunner on punt coverage has been excellent as well. Rashaan EvansThe Titans have brought Rashaan Evans along slowly after the rookie linebacker missed much of training camp with a hamstring injury, but the training wheels came off today. Evans got the start inside next to Wesley Woodyard and even though he was only credited with 1 tackle, I thought he was frequently around the ball. The only downside was Evans leaving the game during the second half with an injury. Hopefully it’s just a minor issue and he gets a chance to build on this start next week.LosersTajae Sharpe and Rishard MatthewsSharpe and Matthews had two bad drops on big 3rd down plays during the first quarter that could have extended drives. Matthews finished with just 1 catch for 3 yards while Sharpe was held without a catch. Sharpe has made a few plays this season, including a massive 3rd down catch against the Texans in Week 2, but Matthews has been the invisible man in this passing game. Some of his struggles are almost certainly due to the time he missed in camp with a torn meniscus, but the Titans could really use another threat in the passing game to complement Corey Davis. Jags FansJags fans were pretty cocky heading in to this game. They were coming off a beatdown of the Patriots and hosting a Titans team starting Blaine Gabbert and missing two of their top three tackles. The national media had just spent the entire week gushing over the “new Blake Bortles” and calling the Jags one of the AFC’s elite. A home loss to a team starting Blaine Gabbert was the last thing they expected to see today, but that’s what they got.Furthermore, I was disappointed with the crowd at TIAA Bank Field (or as I call it “Jeff Fisher’s Beach Bungalow”). There were a TON of empty seats today despite it being a big rivalry game with their team coming off an impressive home win. Maybe they should bring the tarps back?The Rest of the AFC SouthThis one is literal. Every team in the division lost this week except for the Titans. The Colts dropped to 1-2 with a close 20-16 road loss to the Eagles. The more interesting loss was the Texans losing their home opener by a score of 27-22 against the previously 0-2 Giants. Houston remains winless on the season and I after to wonder if Bill O’Brien’s seat might be getting a little toasty. It was a great set of results for the Titans who jump in to first place in the division after three weeks of play. Suffice to say, the energy surrounding the Titans right now is totally different than the one that surrounded them last year as they sat at 8–4 with two road games against poor* competition on the horizon.It’s widely agreed upon that Mike Mularkey’s failure to get the team “up” for that road trip was the beginning of his end in Tennessee.*To be fair, the 49ers were a good team last year and that game went down to the wire.At 3-1 and coming off a hat trick of emotional wins Youth Kevin Byard Jersey , the only thing standing in the Titans’ way as they head to Orchard Park, NY is the potential for a similarly flat performance as favorites.I believe the shift in vibe as compared to last year has much to do with a (so far earned) confidence that Mike Vrabel can keep this team dialed in.For as much of a role as smart offensive and defensive planning have played in keeping the last three games within reach, the Titans have ultimately won thanks to the focused, resilient, positive attitude imparted on them by their head coach.The Bills have been a hugely inconsistent team week-to-week, drive-to-drive, and play-to-play through four games.In all four phases discussed below, Buffalo has had moments in which they’ve looked formidable and ones in which they’ve looked downright dreadful.Because their ebb and flow doesn’t pick a landing spot within each individual game, the Titans will need to be ready to both weather the good and punish the bad.The five games I watched were:Week 13, 2017 - Patriots at BillsWeek 1, 2018 - Bills at RavensWeek 2, 2018 - Chargers at BillsWeek 3, 2018 - Bills at VikingsWeek 4, 2018 - Bills at Packers When the Titans RunStatistically speaking, the Bills are an average to mediocre run-defending team according to most metrics.One in which they excel is Football Outsider’s Defensive Line “Stuffed” ranking, which is based on the number of times a defense stops a ball carrier at or behind the line of scrimmage.Buffalo is second in the NFL in number of times they’ve accomplished that feat.However, when in “Power” situations, in which the offense runs to convert a 3rd or 4th and 2 or less, the Bills tumble to 18th according to F.O.They are in the bottom third of the “2nd Level” and “Open Field” ranks.The Titans have two backs with boom or bust potential.Despite an ongoing debate as to whether Dion Lewis is more consistent than Derrick Henry as a runner, for any one watching them, it’s clear both excel most past the line of scrimmage.Unlike last week, this is a game in which accepting some dud runs is likely to balance out with some game-changing gashes.Patience and persistence will pay off.The biggest benefit, in my eyes, to picking spots to lean on the run game will be its effect on Bills’ QB Josh Allen.Allen is chaotic and reckless on the field right now.Keeping him on the sidelines standing still for long periods of time is a good way to encourage him to press when he does get the ball back.The Titans can afford to get into a field position battle, knowing Allen struggles to string together good plays.Between the Tennessee 25 and the Buffalo 40, slowing down the pace and grinding on the ground should prove beneficial in the long run (no pun intended) for the Titans.When the Titans PassWe saw a vertical iteration of Matt LaFleur’s scheme last week, and I’m as curious as anyone to see how he modulates off of it.I believe the Bills can be challenged down the field, but I’m not sure that’s the best approach LaFleur can take.Instead http://www.titansfootballauthentics.com/kenny-vaccaro-jersey-authentic , offenses working the short to intermediate middle of the field with precision have proven to be what Buffalo’s pass defense struggles with the most so far this year.In the Bills lone victory, Minnesota QB Kirk Cousins was putrid with his timing, pocket awareness, and ball placement, especially early on.Joe Flacco and Phillip Rivers were quite the opposite, and Buffalo could not stop an onslaught of middle-of-the-field hitches, intermediate slants and crossers.The Chargers in particular played beautifully off these concepts with Melvin Gordon running two-way go routes and “sneaking” into open space over the middle.Dion Lewis will be active as a receiver.Against the Packers, Buffalo’s DBs played much tighter to the LOS, and thus didn’t give up as much to the concepts listed above.GB countered this with quick, play-action rub routes to get receivers into space on the outside, as well as screens and occasional downfield sideline throws.There’s a chance this will be the Bills’ defensive approach going forward—passing on them was simply too easy in weeks 1 and 2—so the Titans may need to go back to some of the WR screen concepts we saw used vs. Houston and Jacksonville.If the Titans can get out to a lead, I believe they should alternate off of the clock-chewing approach I talked about in the first section, and occasionally go to a fast-paced, no-huddle attack focused on wearing out Buffalo’s linebackers in coverage over the middle.Forcing Josh Allen to sit for long stretches and then occasionally flipping the script and making him feel pressure to keep up with the Titans’ no-huddle pace (while he plays from behind) is a diabolically-sweet recipe for a Tennessee blowout victory.One thing I thought worth mentioning: this may be a week in which we see Jonnu Smith receive more than 1 or 2 targets.Hopefully, he can produce in those spots and give the coaching staff and fans reason for optimism towards him.The Bills’ pass rush, featuring Jerry Hughes and Lorenzo Alexander on the edges and big man Kyle Williams up the middle, is probably nationally underrated, but I think they’ve benefited from poor OL play over the last two weeks.They didn’t show up near as often in weeks 1 and 2, and I’m confident the Titans’ bookend tackles (reunited and it feels so right) can keep Marcus Mariota clean.When the Bills RunShady McCoy has been near invisible in this offense so far, though it sounds as if the Bills hope to change that going forward.Honestly, I’m not sure if there’s as big of a difference between him, Chris Ivory, and Marcus Murphy as there would have been in the past.Ivory is running hard, and Murphy was a preseason standout who shows highlight-reel flashes.I believe the combination of whichever backs play for Buffalo is a much greater threat to a Titans victory than Josh Allen.The most important thing for the Titans run defense will be clamping down if and when the Bills cross over into Tennessee territory.Allowing big runs in those situations will put the Bills in position to get points without making Allen do his part to earn them.Buffalo’s OL has not excelled at making life easy on their backs.According to PFF, the highest run blocking grade among Bills starters is 57.0 for RT Jordan Mills.The Bills rank 24th in adjusted line yards, which does its best to isolate OL play from running back performance and normalize the grading curve across teams.To me, this only serves to further the credit due to Ivory, Murphy Youth Delanie Walker Jersey , and, when he’s played, McCoy—I’ve actually been impressed with their play in spite of non-ideal blocking.When the Bills PassJosh Allen is, in my opinion, being handled poorly by the Bills’ offensive brain trust.I assume their thought process revolves around letting him play “his style”.The problem is, Allen’s current raw, experimental style will rarely win games in the pros.To me, he is simply ingraining bad habit after bad habit into his game.His rocket arm throws a ball that look pretty for about a second, before it flies 10 feet over the intended receivers’ head and lands 20 feet beyond his position.The Bills offense is doing next to nothing to get Allen to play with timing and rhythm.It’s one thing for a scouting department to believe their coaches can harness and transform a prospect like Allen, but it’s outright stupid to draft him and think he’s going to succeed being given the freedom to figure it out himself.Unless something radical has changed within the last week, expect to see about 5 throws all game that make you say, “Hmm ... maybe this guy has it.”Expect to see 15 to 20 that make you grimace.To compound matters, the Bills lack true receiving threats across the board.WRs Kelvin Benjamin and Zay Jones and TE Charles Clay are all players that deserve roles in the NFL, but none are capable of overcoming stiff competition and none can change the game after the catch.They can’t catch what isn’t thrown in their vicinity and Allen can’t throw it up and depend on them to make a play—it’s a lose/lose situation.Once in a great while, you’ll see a play call that asks Allen to deliver a pass quickly and he usually hits his target.Beyond that, the remainder of the Bills’ passing offense starts off like this: Allen drops back, looks downfield, doesn’t see any initial openings and decides to scramble.From there, it typically ends in one of three outcomes: Sack.Inaccurate Pass.Interception.The Titans secondary, as long as they don’t get cocky and try to go off-script, should have a good day all around.The Titans pass rushers should as well.If Vrabel can have his guys locked in, this one should get ugly for Buffalo, and I’m normally very hesitant to pick the Titans to win big.In this case, though, the match-ups all strongly favor Tennessee and Buffalo’s QB play will provide numerous opportunities for turnovers.Four to WatchTitansOffense: Dion LewisDefense: Harold LandryBillsOffense: Chris IvoryDefense: TreDavious White