Paul Kuharsky, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Titans continuing to ramp up blitzes

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Titans are not stocked with personnel that perfectly fits their 3-4 system.

Coordinator Ray Horton has increasingly schemed up pass pressure via the blitz. It helped produce five sacks against the Texans and five against the Steelers, with one in Baltimore sandwiched in between.

"The last three weeks we’ve been very aggressive," Horton said, speaking of all blitzes, including against the run. "... That’s the way to generate pressure, that’s what we’re doing right now. We’re doing a couple things to make our team better. Part of that is blitzing everybody, so they have to account for everybody.

.

"We are evolving into what we can do to get more pressure on the quarterback."

There is always a trade-off in the risk and reward of blitzing.

Some of the downside for the Titans has been in run defense, which now ranks second-to-last in the NFL.

"Do you weight hitting the quarterback versus maybe giving up a 7-yard run?" Horton asked. "I would take the quarterback hit for the 7-yard run all the time. I won’t take the quarterback hit for a 20-yard run, though."

^ Back to Top ^