Titans vs NFL: Run Defense Remains Strong

By Jeremy Neighbours October 14, 2009

Here is where the Titans stand compared to the rest of the National Football League as they get ready for the trip to Foxboro to battle the New England Patriots.

The Titans run defense ranked 3rd in the NFL at the end of Week 5. They're 2nd behind Pittsburgh in the AFC. The Titans only allowed 58 yards rushing in Sunday night's 31-9 loss to the Colts. Opponents have ran for an average of 75.4 yards per game against the 0-5 Titans.

The pass defense continued to be disastrous against the Colts who produced 309 yards passing and three touchdowns. The Titans came in after Week 5 ranked 31st against the pass, ranked only ahead of the Cardinals who are tops in the NFL against the run. Overall, Tennessee is 23rd among other teams in total defense.

Linebacker Stephen Tulloch is tied at 8th in the league (tied at 4th in AFC# with 45 stops with Ravens future Hall-of-Famer Ray Lewis. Tulloch's teammate, Keith Bulluck, is tied at 10th with Vikings linebacker E.J. Henderson and Detroit linebacker Larry Foote. They all have recorded 41 tackles thus far.

After Week 5, the team dropped one spot to 8th in the league #5th in AFC# in rushing. The Colts held the Titans well below their average of 137 yards per game Sunday night, allowing the Titans to crank out only 90 yards rushing. The average for the Titans dropped to 127.6.

Chris Johnson fell to 3rd in rushing in the NFL after the Colts corralled him with only 34 yards on nine carries. His rushing total 468 yards on 78 attempts averaged out at six yards per carry. Johnson finished behind Minnesota's Adrian Peterson and the Bengals Cedric Benson who took over the No. 1 ranking in the league.

Kerry Collins and the Titans pass attack came into Week 6 averaging 208.2 yards a game after putting up a meager 155 against AFC South opponent Indianapolis. The air game is ranked 21st #10th in AFC# overall. After five weeks of play, the Titans stood at 17th in total offense in the NFL.

Collins had a quarterback rating of 67.4 at the end of Week 5. That left him with 29th overall spot in the NFL #14th in AFC) in quarterback ratings. The former Nittany Lion has thrown for 1,078 yards on 106 completions with five touchdowns and seven picks.

Wideout Kenny Britt led rookie pass-catchers in receiving yards in the NFL once again at the end of Week 5 with 289. He had two grabs for 18 yards against the Colts.

Kicker Rob Bironas has connected on 7-of-9 field goals this season, giving him a percentage of 77.8. Bironas nailed his season-long attempt Sunday night at LP Field against Indianapolis when he hit a 49-yarder. The kicker from Georgia Southern is ranked 22nd among NFL kickers in percentage of field goals made.

Titans punter Reggie Hodges finished last week ranked 31st among the league's punters with an average of 41.3 yards per punt.