Vrabel, Titans aim to put the squeeze on Birds
PHILADELPHIA » To understand how ruthless Titans head coach Mike Vrabel can be, consider some of the forensic evidence dating to his playing days with the New England Patriots.
Back in the day, Eagles linebacker Ike Reese was on the ground in a pile of bodies fighting for a fumble in a game against Vrabel and the Patriots. The ball secured, Reese was squeezed so hard in a very personal and vulnerable area he let go. Who can blame Reese for attempting to protect himself against Vrabel? “True story,” Reese confirmed. The Eagles would be wise to protect themselves at all times when Vrabel and the Tennessee Titans check-in Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. There is a belief the Titans reflect Vrabel and his penchant for making the game as painful as possible for the opposition. With first-hand knowledge of this edginess, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni alluded to it this week.
“This is a tough, physical football team,” Sirianni said. “(They) really take after their head coach. Mike Vrabel is a tough, physical … I was on a staff in my first job in the NFL and Mike Vrabel was the captain on the Kansas City Chiefs. Man, I couldn’t say more good things about him as a player. I’ve obviously never coached with him, but the way he led as a football player on that team, coming from a great Steeler team and Ohio State teams and back to when he went to Walsh Jesuit, then being on those Patriot teams, that guy knows how to lead people and lead men.”
Vrabel’s formula as head coach of the Titans (7-4), who aren’t the AFC’s most talented team yet have a commanding lead in the South Division, begins with a smashmouth ground game powered by Derrick Henry and a nasty offensive line.
Henry is one of the marvels of the NFL. He clocked a 4.54 in the 40-yard dash at the 2016 combine
at 6-foot-3, 247 pounds. Always among the league leaders in what allegedly was a pass-first league, he rushed for 2,027 yards two years ago and in 11 games this season has 1,048 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. Add the rushing and receiving touches and you’re going to have to tackle Henry an average of 24 times a day.
The Titans enjoy playing a possession game with Henry, who lately has been more explosive in the screen game. That’s worked well against the Eagles by limiting opportunities for quarterback Jalen Hurts to get into a rhythm.
“He likes to manage the game,” Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham said. “He likes to keep it physical and keep doing what they’re good at. Running the ball and the clock is their game. We’ve got to make sure we do our best
at what we’re good at. We’ve got to get off the field. We’ve got to make sure we keep numbers to the ball, and you know, put out fires before they think they can just run on us.”
The Eagles have been giving up rushing yardage lately despite the addition of defensive tackles Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh. The five-man line with Jordan Davis could be back in play if he’s able to show he’s all the way back from an ankle injury this week.
When the Eagles go to a fiveman alignment, that takes a man away from the back end and generally means more zone coverage. Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill, 34, has the savvy to figure that out.
Defensively the Titans are every bit as nasty. Eagles left offensive tackle Jordan Mailata says you
never really know how physical a team is until you play them, but what he’s seen so far is eye-opening.
“The film that we’re watching, they’re a physical team,” Mailata said. “The film never lies. That’s the best way to put it, the film never lies. (Jeff) Simmons is nasty, everything you want in a threetechnique defensive tackle. You’ve got to respect them.”
The 6-5, 305-pound Simmons has 6.5 sacks for the Titans.
The Eagles (10-1) are well into one of their finest seasons. They can clinch a playoff berth this weekend with a victory and a series of favorable results involving the 49ers, Commanders and Seahawks. The Vikings (9-2) and Cowboys (83) are the only real threat to the Birds’ bid for the NFC’s No. 1 seed and a bye in the playoffs.
The Titans still have a shot at
the top seed in the AFC where Kansas City (9-2) is slightly ahead of Buffalo (8-3) and Miami (8-3).
More than anything, the Titans will arrive with that Vrabel mystique. It hurts just thinking about it … if you let it.
“I think that’s the nature of football,” Vrabel said. “It’s physical and it’s professional football. Everybody is going to play that way and you hope you have your guys prepared by putting the time in to be able to sustain that throughout the game. This will be a great challenge, Philadelphia. I have a lot of respect for the talent and not only the talent but the effort the guys play with defensively.”