Packers 40, Titans 14: What We Learned

Derrick Henry can only do so much; Rashaan Evans continues to do the wrong things.

It was not the sort of performance the Tennessee Titans wanted to deliver on national television.

Faced with the chance to claim a playoff berth and a division title, the Titans fell 40-14 to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday at a snow-covered Lambeau Field. They gave up the first 19 points of the contest and the dynamic offense that has kept them in so many other contests this season could not keep pace with Aaron Rodgers and the Packers’ attack, which rolled up 448 yards and six touchdowns.

The Titans can bounce back from a bad performance. The football world knows this because it saw as much as recently as this month, when Tennessee responded to a loss to Cleveland with dominant victories in its next two games.

Here is some of what we learned from this contest:

• Derrick Henry can’t be the league’s MVP: It is not that one of the leading contenders for the award, Rodgers, outperformed him in a nationally televised contest (that certainly didn’t help, though). It’s that this game proved that Henry can’t lead his team back from a 19-point deficit while Rodgers or Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes can and occasionally do.an

This was a rare instance in which Tennessee actually stuck with Henry even after it fell behind by a wide margin. The NFL’s rushing leader finished with 23 carries for 98 yards, which is a quality effort against a good defense. There have been times when he has done less in victories.

There was nothing menacing about his performance, though. When the Titans have a lead, Henry beats defenses into submission. In this case, it never looked like he had the Packers on their heels. And the most valuable players are the ones who can deliver a victory from defeat.

• It is not just Tennessee’s pass defense that is a problem: Stopping the run has not been a consistent issue with this team, but this game showed that the defense is hardly impenetrable in that regard.

Green Bay had one running back, rookie AJ Dillon, who outrushed the aforementioned Henry. He had 124 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. Another, Aaron Jones, almost outgained Henry as well but finished with 94 yards on just 10 carries.

As a team, the Packers outrushed the Titans 234-156. That is the most rushing yards against Tennessee this season (Minnesota had 226 in Week 3) and the second highest total allowed by the Titans in Mike Vrabel’s nearly three full seasons as head coach.

• Rashaan Evans just can’t help himself: Three weeks ago, Evans, a third-year inside linebacker, firmly established himself as Tennessee’s most penalized player this season when he was flagged three times in the loss to Cleveland. At that time, it wasn’t just the number of penalties he committed but the fact that so many cost his team 15 yards, which sent the opposing teams on to touchdowns.

One flag was thrown against Evans against the Packers, and it was for a mere five-yard violation (illegal hands to the face). It was no less costly than any of his bigger infractions, though, because it gave the Packers a first down on a play that was a third-down stop by the defense. Not long after, Green Bay had its second touchdown of the contest, a 12-0 lead and was on its way to a comfortable victory.

Evans now has been called for eight penalties this season, at least two more than any of his teammates.

• Jayon Brown has played his last game for the Titans: Brown was Tennessee’s leading tackler before he went on injured reserve with a dislocated elbow sustained in a victory last month at Baltimore. A fourth-year veteran, he is headed for free agency and his absence has shown the Titans they can live without him.

David Long has emerged as Brown’s replacement and for the second straight game, he led the defense in tackles. In this case, he finished with nine, including one tackle for loss, which tied safety Kevin Byard for team-high honors. A week earlier against Detroit, he set a career-high with 12. Long has played nearly every snap on defense for the past three games and has shown he is up to that sort of workload, which means the Titans can show Brown the door after the season.

• It is never easy: The playoffs seemed like a forgone conclusion when the Titans opened the season with five straight victories. Yet here they are 10 games later – five wins, five losses – and their postseason fate will be determined on the final week of the regular season for the fourth straight year.

The good news for Tennessee is that it does not need any help. A win next Sunday at Houston and not only are the Titans in the playoffs, but they get to host a first-round game because they will be division champions.

It all sounds so simple. If only they could count on it being that way.