While the Titans gave up 33 points to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 2, that might say more about the Rams – the Colts’ Week 4 opponent – than Dennard Wilson’s Tennessee defense. Wilson has thrown some funky pressure looks and coverages at both the Broncos and Rams, and the Titans’ four takeaways are tied for the second-most in the NFL entering Week 3.
If you expand things back from the start of the 2024 season – in which the Titans had the worst record in the NFL – through Week 2, you’ll see a few things Tennessee does well defensively. First: In that span, the Titans allowed a success rate of just 33.7 percent, eighth-best in the NFL, and they are above league average in both explosive passing rate allowed (13.1 percent, 12th) and explosive run rate allowed (12.3 percent, 16th).
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Dennard Wilson, their D-coordinator,” Steichen said. :”I had a chance to be with him in Philly – aggressive style, attacking defense, multiple looks. Got a good front. Starts up front with 98 (Jeffery) Simmons. He’s one of the best in the league. So, got to control him as much as possible.”
While Steichen is undefeated in four games against the Titans as Colts head coach, those games have all been decided by one score (38-30, 20-17, 31-28OT, 23-16). That’s par for the course; all six of the Colts’ AFC South games in 2024 were decided by eight or fewer points, and five were decided by three or fewer points.
So the Titans are 0-2 and the Colts are 2-0, but those records might not lead to a lopsided outcome on Sunday at Nissan Stadium.
“I feel like we’re pretty grounded,” defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said. “I mean, we just preach every week that we are taking it one day at a time, continue to get better each and every day. Whatever we did in the past, last week, nobody cares about. That’s the nature of this game, the nature of this league. Nobody cares about what you did last week. It’s what you are going to do this week. So, we’ve got to continue to prove ourselves each and every week.”