Will Tennessee go "Vanilla" after clinching the South?
Tennessee has already taken the foot off the gas pedal on the defensive side of the ball. You didn't notice it, because the Titan's faced the Cleveland Browns last week. The Browns are committed to short passing routes, due to the ineffective arm of Ken Dorsey. If you saw the game, then you realized that Cleveland could not get the ball downfield. In fact, it appeared that the Browns had no interest in testing any of the zone coverage schemes.
Cleveland is the perfect team to go "vanilla" against. Vanderbilt could control a quarterback that has a 62.12 passer rating. So remember, if you use the Cleveland game as a template for the game on Sunday, then you will be making a grave error. You cannot go "vanilla" against the NFL's 3rd best offense.........
OR CAN YOU?
It's a fact that Tennessee's defensive coordinator, Jim Schwartz, is not showing anybody what he intends to do.
It's a fact that Schwartz called off the dogs and went to a 4 man rush last week. It's a fact that you don't have to wonder whether Tennessee will go "vanilla" against Houston. They already went "vanilla" a week early. You just thought they were playing their normal stop-assignments when, in fact, they just looked great against an inept offense.
So what's going to happen against Houston?
I seriously believe that Schwartz is going to stay "vanilla" against Houston, by limiting his pass rush to a 4 man set.
Why do I believe this?
Did you know that 31 of Tennessee's 35 sacks came from lineman? This is a dangerous fact if you're capping a "vanilla" defense against Houston. If you break it down to it's simplest terms, you would actually classify the Tennessee defense as "vanilla". The Titan's only commit a linebacker or safety, on the blitz, if they are facing a powerful offensive line. If you look at the top offenses, you'll find that they rarely allow sacks. When Tennesse faces poor pass protection schemes, they let the lineman go wild and sit back and wait for the QB to make his move. So we fear the fact that Houston is the #3 offense league-wide, but are they really a big threat? Sack total's tell the tale:
New Orleans is the #1 offense: 10 sacks
Denver is the #2 offense: 8 sacks
Houston is the #3 offense: 26 sacks!
HMMMMMM? Houston, we have a problem!
Is it possible that Tennessee's "vanilla" (4-man) pass rush will still disrupt the Texan passing game? I think they can rely on their 4 man front to rush the passer, and this means that Tennessee can devote more attention to the Houston running game (which is the real threat for that offense).
It's just a simple rule: if your 4-man set is getting the job done, then you can create a "hawk" on the "backfield".
The guys that thought Green Bay could handle Houston totally missed the fact that the Packers are one of the worst run defenses in football. They allow an average of 142 yards rushing per game! So you are being mis-led by the previous week's performance by Houston. They are not that dominant.
The Rush Dominance System rejected that wager right of the bat. NEVER back a sorry run defense against a top flight offense! The play action EXPLODES in your face before the 1st quarter expires! Green Bay was not structured to handle Houston. Green Bay's defense was not good enough to drop into coverage without getting gouged by the Houston running game.
Tennessee can wait for Houston to implode!
Even in Vanilla mode, Tennessee's defense is going to contain Houston"
Rush Dominance Play:
The Tennessee Titans -3 (-120) at BookMaker
1-Unit
Good Luck,
Kevin