Good a win as it was, Tennessee Titans' offense clearly missed Derrick Henry | Estes

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – At the risk of raining on a parade in the wake of such a huge Tennessee Titans victory, I'd be remiss to not mention how much the offense clearly missed Derrick Henry on Sunday night.

It was obscured in a defensively driven 28-16 victory, but the Titans managed only 194 offensive yards against a salty Los Angeles Rams defense. It was the Titans’ lowest total since a 21-0 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in 2018, Mike Vrabel’s first season as coach.

Some of that could be linked to game script with the Titans protecting a lead in the second half, but there were troubling signs about life after Henry for a highly regarded offense. The Titans didn’t have an offensive play worth more than 16 yards, meaning the team's longest gain of the night outside of special teams was Kevin Byard’s 24-yard interception return.

“You don't play for stats. You play for wins,” said quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who was sacked three times and threw for 143 yards on 19-of-27 passing. “Sometimes they correlate together. In other situations and other games, it's just a matter of finding a way to win. Today as a team, we did that.”

True to their assurances last week, the Titans didn’t drastically overhaul their offensive plans in Henry’s absence. They ran the ball 26 times and threw it 27.

But it was a slow night, and not just because of Henry’s absence. The Titans were also without left tackle Taylor Lewan and right guard Nate Davis, which manifested itself in the Rams' pressure and three sacks of Tannehill – this has been an issue much of the season – and a lack of push in the run game.

In trying to replace the irreplaceable Henry, though, it’s going to take a village. There wasn’t one lead running back Sunday. There were three: Adrian Peterson, Jeremy McNichols and D’Onta Foreman split time and carries in what’s setting up to be a by-committee backfield. At this point, any of three could still emerge as a top option.

McNichols (26 snaps) was on the field more than Peterson (19) and Foreman (12). Peterson (10 carries) had the most rushes and a touchdown, but he had fewer rushing yards than McNichols (24) and Foreman (29).

Personally, I thought Foreman looked the most impressive. He averaged 5.8 yards on his five carries, compared to McNichols (3.4) and Peterson (2.1).

“I felt like it was OK,” said Peterson after his first game this season. “I think we left a lot out there as a running back group. I know I did. ... As we continue to get practice and get reps in, we will continue to build that chemistry with those guys up front.”

Titans-Rams Takeaways

1. Those who’ve been watching Jeffery Simmons closely the past few seasons in Tennessee wouldn’t call Sunday surprising, but on a national scale this was a breakout performance by the big defensive lineman.

He was the Titans’ MVP. He outplayed Aaron Donald in his own stadium, finishing with three sacks and forcing Matthew Stafford into the first interception in the end zone.

“Technique is what's improved,” said Vrabel of Simmons. “He was always just a big, powerful, play-hard, be-disruptive player. I think we're all starting to see some of the technique that those guys up front are coaching.”

Simmons (4), Harold Landry (3), Denico Autry (3) and Bud Dupree (1) combined for 11 quarterback hurries of Stafford.

2. Pass rush from that front four is fueling the Titans’ defensive resurgence. But after some hiccups early this season, the unit has become better at limiting big plays and stepping up to hold teams to field goals in the red zone.

The Rams had field-goal drives of 10, 11 and 11 plays before finally scoring a touchdown – capping a 14-play drive – in the game's final seconds.

Stafford’s 48 pass attempts were his most in a game all season, which was similar to Carson Wentz last weekend. Wentz’s 51 passes against the Titans were 13 more than he had thrown in a previous game with the Colts.

“They were doing a great job of trying to keep it all in front of them tonight,” Stafford said. “I didn’t do a good enough job of just checking it down early in the game, keeping us ahead of the sticks and doing all the things that would build positive momentum for our team.”

3. Don’t expect Titans receiver A.J. Brown and Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey to be buddying up the next time Nashville-area native Ramsey is back home. Sunday’s game was noticeably chippy between the two players, leaving Brown still fuming a bit afterward.

“I don't mind the chirping (from Ramsey),” Brown said, “but little things after the play, like the dirty stuff, I'm not going for it. I'm a man first. I'm here to play football. I'm not out here trying to fight nobody, but I'm not taking no (expletive), though.”

4. It was encouraging for the Titans’ offense that Brown (78%, 45 snaps) and Julio Jones (74%, 43 snaps) each played large roles and got a hefty portion of the receiving snaps. In Jones’ case, he was able to finish the game, which had been an issue for him previously this season.

“I feel good. I didn't have any limitations,” Jones said. “I was out there the whole game, didn't get winded or anything like that.”

5. Here’s a line from Vrabel after Sunday’s game that stuck with me: “I thought Shane called a great game.”

He was referring to defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, and it was worth noting because Vrabel rarely singles out individual players for praise after games, much less his coaches. To that point, even in this instance, Vrabel went on to say in the same answer that “all the credit goes to the players, obviously.”

But the shoutout for Bowen should be noted. After last season’s shortcomings on defense, there were a lot of critics – hand raised sheepishly – when Bowen was promoted by Vrabel to full-time coordinator. So far this season, the Titans’ defense is proving Vrabel correct.

6. The Titans were good, but the Rams simply couldn’t stay out of their own way, finishing with a whopping 12 penalties compared to only four for the Titans.

“I don’t think that’s reflective of the type of football team we are,” said Rams coach Sean McVay. “We had a rough night. It really seemed like that was kind of the narrative for the night. A lot of those things that occurred are uncharacteristic.”

7. Here’s one returning player that probably hasn’t gotten enough attention: Punter Brett Kern is still Brett Kern. And he deserves a nod for the Titans’ game-changing, goal-line interceptions the past two weeks.

Against the Rams, Kern had three of his five punts downed inside the Rams’ 20-yard line. The highlight was a 57-yard punt that checked up inside the 5-yard line and was snared by Dane Cruikshank. Call that the equivalent of a 5-iron that still had enough loft to settle perfectly on the green. Not easy to do, and David Long’s interception followed three plays later.

Against the Colts last week, Kern put one at the 8-yard-line before Carson Wentz was harassed into a pick-six in the game’s final moments.

8. Tight end Geoff Swaim’s role is gradually increasing in the Titans’ passing game. He followed a four-catch game in Indianapolis with four more catches in Los Angeles. Prior to these past two games, he’d only had more than four catches once in a 61-game career.

9. Peterson spoke after the game about his recent decision to turn down an invite from “Dancing With The Stars” because he still wanted to try to catch on somewhere to continue his football career this season.

"I didn't want to make that commitment and have to back out on it,” Peterson said. “I just kind of rolled the dice and was like, 'Hey, I'm going to keep working out, keep my mind ready and focus on football, and when an opportunity presents itself I'll be ready to go.' And here I am.”

When asked, Peterson added that he would like to appear on the show, albeit in “a couple of years.”

10. Kudos to Vrabel for a courteous act at the start of his postgame press conference Sunday night. Media members leave running voice recorders and phones on his podium as Vrabel is speaking. (Vrabel understands this and often offers to collect and assemble them for reporters).

Prior to fielding his first question Sunday, Vrabel halted proceedings because he’d accidentally pressed pause on someone’s recording and owned up to it because he wanted to get it started again. “We good?” Vrabel said. “Sorry.”

Vrabel didn’t have to do that. It was a good deed that I’m sure was appreciated.

11. Recently retired ex-Titans defensive lineman Jurrell Casey – a SoCal native – was at the Rams game, visiting with fans and some of his former teammates.

“I was shocked to see him,” said the Titans’ Harold Landry .”He's always cool to be around. He was one of the more awesome vets, man, coming into the league to be able to have as a teammate. He was just saying how he was proud of me and how I'm having a start to the season and just keep going.”

Reach Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Gentry_Estes.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Tennessee Titans clearly missed Derrick Henry versus LA Rams