LeFleur doesn't have the players for his scheme..

and Vrabel doesn't know what to do. Just saying "we have to play/coach better" is the sign of a coaching staff that has no more answers. Remember, the players on this squad were selected to run the asinine "Exotic smash mouth" on O and LeBeau's "Blitzburg" D. D. Henry was expected to be the building block of that O, helping covering up Mariota's weaknesses in the pocket. LeFluer wants to put fast and physical backs in space on RPO's and rub routes out of the back field (lining up RB's at WR). D. Henry is fast and physical, but not the optimal pass catcher lining up wide. Couple that with injuries and you have a broken offense, which is going to take a drastic overhaul to fix, scheme and/or personnel wise.

The D is not suited to press cover WR's and TE's on crossing and seem routes, and apparently anything coming out of the back field on a wheel route. The players seem to be completely lost on D, which is puzzling because the many of the exact same players were the 4th best D yardage wise in the NFL last year. I actually think they had a below average LB corps and Secondary last year and upgraded those areas this year personal wise. Now the scheme doesn't work. Too much change and it has showed.

But the silver lining is that the Titans are still leading the division, which is all you can ask and do during the regular season; win the division. So everything is still in front of them as far as their season goals are concerned. They do need more playmakers on O, a scheme that better utilizes D. Henry and protects Mariota, (physically and skill set-wise), and gets the D playmakers in better position to make plays. It seems as though the coaching staff really doesn't understand skillsets of the players they have, on both sides of the ball. They are asking them to do things they are not good at.

These things can, and must get fixed. I hope the staff is up to it.

 

I really think Lefluer was brought in to change up the scheme, which is what got Mularkey fired. LeFluer is thinking scheme first rather than the skillsets of his players. No way would I have predicted that Lewis would have gotten more carries than D. Henry. That is a sign that Lefluer just doesn't know how to use Henry. Someone pointed out that D. Henry was getting 5 yds/carry against Buffalo and yet only got 12 carries. That is a sign that they have not game planned to get Henry a lot of carries, which is weird. Henry is a better running back than Lewis. Yet, Lewis is getting most of the runs and snaps because they like his pass catching ability. Yes, Lewis is a better pass catcher, but Henry is better running back, when used properly. He needs 20 to 25 carries a game, regardless of ypc. because come 4th qtr, he's gonna start pounding away at tired D. Something that Lewis can't do.