{"id":197197,"date":"2024-10-29T12:30:40","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T16:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=197197"},"modified":"2024-10-29T12:18:51","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T16:18:51","slug":"tennessee-titans-special-teams-a-titanic-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/10\/29\/tennessee-titans-special-teams-a-titanic-disaster\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee Titans Special Teams: A Titanic Disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sunday was another low point for special teams coordinator Colt Anderson, as his unit repeatedly beguiled the unwitting <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/lions\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Detroit Lions<\/a> into short fields. The 2024 season has been an utter disaster for the embattled coordinator, resulting in numerous errors and misfires. Tennessee allowed Detroit to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/10\/25\/shorthanded-titans-and-lions-meet-in-the-motor-city-in-week-8\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">gain the upper hand<\/a> in a fight that quickly got out of hand. What can be done for the remainder of the season?<\/p>\n<h2>Tennessee Titans Special Teams: A Titanic Disaster<\/h2>\n<p>How historically bad have Anderson&#8217;s charges been in 2024 and Sunday afternoon?<\/p>\n<p>Former Titans returner\/receiver Kalif Raymond had this 90-yard punt return touchdown and a couple of other extended returns to set up the Lions in plus territory. He had just 125 yards on 14 attempts before the 190-yard outburst against Tennessee.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">KALIF RAYMOND 90-YARD PUNT RETURN TD. <\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udcfa: <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/TENvsDET?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#TENvsDET<\/a> on FOX<br \/>\ud83d\udcf1: <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/waVpO909ge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/waVpO909ge<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/sMcRUfaDCX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/sMcRUfaDCX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NFL (@NFL) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NFL\/status\/1850611454065660345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 27, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>After Sunday&#8217;s incompetent and outrageously contemptible showing by the Titans&#8217; special teams, Tennessee is the league&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/glennonsports\/status\/1850912439086260477\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">worst punt coverage unit<\/a>. They have given up a disastrous 454 yards on punts, significantly more than the next worst team, the Patriots. The kick-return coverages did not spare themselves on Sunday, either. They allowed a 72-yard return to Khalil Dorsey, which set up an easy touchdown when the game&#8217;s fate hung in the balance. Overall, it continued the malaise that is the Titans&#8217; ST units.<\/p>\n<h3>What&#8217;s next?<\/h3>\n<p>Coach Anderson had the ostentatious gall to contribute to the blowout defeat in front of the <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SteveLayman\/status\/1850576765975933249\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Titans&#8217; power brokers<\/a>. Principal owner Amy Adams Strunk is one to be wary of. She ordered the <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PaulKuharskyNFL\/status\/1850611702150427076\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">immediate termination of Anderson&#8217;s predecessor<\/a> after that coach was in charge of two consecutive blocked punts last season. One of which resulted in a devastating knee injury to punter Ryan Stonehouse. Yet, head coach Brian Callahan defended this monstrosity of a failure in his Monday press conference.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Nothing to report from <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Titans?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Titans<\/a> Brian Callahan.<\/p>\n<p>He has had conversations with ST Coordinator Colt Anderson about how to fix the issues. Doesn\u2019t sound like there will be a change made. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xvbLvkK8bw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/xvbLvkK8bw<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; AtoZ Sports Nashville (@AtoZSports) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AtoZSports\/status\/1850939578271805666?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 28, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>To be somewhat fair to Anderson, Sunday&#8217;s loss wasn&#8217;t entirely on his unit&#8217;s meltdowns. It was a total team loss, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/10\/28\/detroit-lions-kerby-joseph-stepping-up-as-an-end-zone-ninja\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Lions took full advantage<\/a>. Quarterback Mason Rudolph was a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/10\/19\/tennessee-titans-make-huge-change-ahead-of-game-against-buffalo\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">big contributor<\/a> to the events with two ghastly Will Levis-type interceptions. The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/patriots\/\" target=\"_self\">New England Patriots<\/a> loom next on the docket with an impressively bad two wins. This game will likely determine the top five in the 2025 NFL Draft order. This was a titanic disaster in the making with little depth given to those primary special teams positions like running back and linebacker.<\/p>\n<h3>What Should Happen?<\/h3>\n<p>If the owner has shown the willingness to demand the cessation of one assistant&#8217;s duties, they will not hesitate to order another one to stop their duties with the team. Anderson isn&#8217;t totally at fault, given the lack of great special team players but it is his responsibility to produce something better. There has to be a tough decision to be made on his future, given his ties to Brian Callahan. Termination for overseeing a historically bad unit is the only option left for Callahan to make. Otherwise, his own job will be precariously hanging in the balance as the losses mount in a fruitless campaign.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main Image: Junfu Han &#8211; USA Today Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Titans&#8217; special teams unit has been an inviting home for teams that have been searching for answers in that area of the game. Is there a chance that Tennessee can recover from a calamitous disaster or do certain coaches have to be relieved of their duties? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4788,"featured_media":197236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,54],"tags":[8288,32902,7700],"class_list":["post-197197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-titans","category-editorials","tag-brian-callahan","tag-colt-anderson","tag-tennessee-titans-news"],"modified_by":"Isaac Zuniga","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4788"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}