Vrabel Guarantees No Locker Room Divide

Disparate performances by the offense and defense Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs did not cause any resentment, the head coach said.

George Walker IV / Tennessean.com / USA Today Network

NASHVILLE – The division of labor in the Tennessee Titans’ 20-17 overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday was not exactly an equitable one.

Tennessee’s defense was on the field for 91 plays and 41:28 of game time. The offense ran 48 plays and took 26:23 off the clock.

It is an increasing problem for a team that leads the AFC South at 5-3 but sees a growing statistical divide between the units in some of the areas it matters most. The Titans’ defense is one of 10 in the NFL that has allows an average of fewer than 20 points per game and is second when it comes to stopping the run. The offense, on the other hand, is 24th in scoring at 18.6 points per game and ranks next-to-last in passing offense.

However, don’t think for a minute, coach Mike Vrabel said Monday, that the roster has split in any way or that any sort of resentment has swelled up or will swell up.

“I didn't hear one time [Sunday], and I can promise you I won't, any talk about the defense having to go out there or, ‘Man, they can't get a first down,’” Vrabel said. “I'm lucky that doesn't happen. It is just easy to do. Human nature says that you start pointing fingers or, ‘Hey man, I don't want to be out here 100 plays. You guys aren't doing your job.’

“Everybody – I believe this ­– is in it together.”

The 91 plays for Kansas City’s offense tied the second-highest number by an opponent’s offense during the Titans era (1999-present).

Only the Detroit Lions in 2012 ran more. Detroit snapped it 92 times in another contest that went beyond regulation, and two others – Philadelphia in 2006 and Denver in 2013 – had 91 offensive plays of their own. The game with the Lions was a high-scoring affair (the Titans won 44-41) in which Detroit used a hurry-up attack to force overtime. In the game against Denver, a 51-28 defeat, Tennessee’s offense countered with 80 snaps of its own.

Kansas City’s offense, on the other hand, got so many opportunities because the Titans’ offense, led by rookie quarterback Malik Willis for the second consecutive week, couldn’t do much with its chances, particularly after halftime. In the third and fourth quarters, ran 23 plays for 38 yards and one first down.

Despite the massive differences in plays and time of possession – not to mention total offense (499 for Kansas City, 229 for Tennessee – the score stayed close throughout. Kansas City led by nine in the first half, and the Titans had an eight-point advantage early in the third quarter as the defense went seven straight possessions at one juncture without a point allowed.

“We're going to go out there, we're going to fight and we're going to swing,” Vrabel said. “We're going to try to compete every opportunity that we get. I know that. I'm positive of that. I've seen that.

“To beat good teams, you have to have more than that. You have to have the details. You have to have the execution. You have to work together with somebody that is next to you.”

And you have to be willing to pick up the slack when needed.

Right now, that is what is happening with the Titans, and Vrabel expects it will remain that way. Even if things don’t change for the better in regard to the offense.