From all accounts at the start of training camp, the Tennessee Titans defense looked really good. Then, they went to California and reportedly got torched by the San Francisco 49ers offense. The overreaction to that performance on Twitter, while not unexpected, is ridiculous. There are plenty of reasons that you should not panic because the defense had a bad day yesterday.
The first is that they warmed up closest to the substation… Actually, the real first reason is that if anyone would know how to attack
a Robert Saleh defense, it would be Kyle Shanahan who spent last season watching it every day in practice. That experience is far better than just watching game tape.
Secondly, defensive pressure on the quarterback isn’t the same in a joint practice as it would be in a real game. There were reportedly a lot of deep shots given up yesterday. Some of those plays would certainly be disrupted by Jeffery Simmons collapsing the pocket.
Thirdly, it’s the first time the players have faced an opposing team running the new system. It should be expected that there would be some bumps. The real concern would be if they look like they did yesterday in a couple of weeks when they practice against the Chicago Bears.
With all of that being said, yesterday’s performance does raise some concern, but let’s pump the brakes on any determination on what it means for the season as a whole.
