SIMMONS TREE
Zac Taylor isn’t the only one with a coaching tree who faces a branch this Sunday. Titans special teams coordinator Colt Anderson was Bengals special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons’ assistant for the previous four seasons in Cincinnati.
But there is no room for an angle this week. Simmons doesn’t want to hear about Anderson’s struggles with a batch of young players that has the Titans hovering at the bottom of the league in the kicking game. Not after the near disaster of Monday night.
“I would say, ‘unprecedented,'” said Simmons, still steaming in his office Wednesday night. “We were fortunate.”
With the game tied at 20 on the first play after the two-minute warning, rookie linebacker Maema Njongmeta got beat underneath by former Bengals linebacker Nick Vigil and watched him block rookie punter Ryan Rehkow’s punt.
But it wasn’t ruled a block because it rolled past the line of scrimmage, where, even more unbelievably, a Cowboy touched it. With Simmons screaming “Recover it, recover it,” Njongmeta did, and less than a minute later Chase was in the end zone scoring the winner.
“A win is a win is a win is a win no matter what it looks like. I’ve learned that,” said Simmons, the NFL’s longest-tenured teams coach at 22 seasons with the Bengals and counting. “We haven’t had one in a while, so it’s good to savor.”
Usually, Taylor gives game balls to players who get turnovers in wins. Not Njongmeta. Not Monday.
“You couldn’t do that. He’s the reason we had to recover the fumble,” Simmons said. “I don’t know whether he knew what was going on, but he made a good play sticking with it. It’s a good lesson for the young players. Sticking with it and taking nothing for granted.”
But Simmons is still mad. He knew the Cowboys had a more veteran crew than he did. Vigil, a 2016 Bengals draft pick who had nine tackles for Simmons during his four seasons in Cincinnati, typified Dallas’ experience.
“He’s a very insightful guy. They made an adjustment on the sidelines and he made a good play. It wasn’t a scheme thing. It was technique,” Simmons said.
Now on the short week, Simmons preps for a familiar face who has more younger players than he does. Simmons had many battles with his mentor in the NFL when Scott O’Brien was with Carolina, Denver and New England.
But this is the first time he’s faced someone in an NFL game who worked for him. Former assistant Brayden Coombs coached against him in the 2020 Senior Bowl in Coombs’ first assignment as the special teams coordinator for the Lions.
“I’ll prepare like I do for the Cowboys, Ravens, and Steelers,” Simmons said. “Going off tape. Colt played in the league a long time, and he’s been around all kinds of football, so he’s got other elements along with what he got here.”
The Titans have had two punts blocked, have allowed four kickoff returns of at least 56 yards, two punt returns of at least 64 yards, and eight punt returns of at least 20 yards.
But Simmons will hear none of it. Especially after Monday night.
“His guys play hard. They play aggressive. And he’s a smart coach,” Simmons said.