“I’m out of there”. That is a direct quote from Julio Jones while on a phone call with Shannon Sharpe on the popular sports talk show Undisputed. Julio, in fact, was out of there, and it became official rather quickly as well. On Sunday, June 6th, the Falcons traded their prized receiver to the Tennessee Titans, an AFC playoff contender, for draft picks. Let us analyze the deeper details of this deal, look at the approach for both teams, and who won the trade.

Contract Details

The details of this trade are pretty detailed, but in basic terms, Jones was dealt to Tennessee, along with a 2023 sixth-round pick, for a 2022 second-round pick, and a 2023 fourth-round pick. Along with the acquisition, the Titans will be taking on Jones’ salary in 2021, which is $15.3M, along with the rest of his contract which extends through 2023. On the Falcons side, they will have to pay only $7.75M in dead money for the 2021 season, which is less than half of the salary Tennessee will be paying.

Atlanta Falcons

It was not a matter of if, but when the Atlanta Falcons were going to trade Julio Jones. Atlanta is moving towards a rebuilding phase and are in a rough spot from a cap space point of view. It has been reported that Atlanta is struggling to sign their rookies because of cap issues. Trading up Jones will easily free up cap space to sign these players, specifically first-round choice Kyle Pitts, TE out of Florida. The downfall to giving away Jones’ entire contract is that it likely cost them a first-round pick in return, which is mind-boggling figuring the caliber of player Julio Jones is. This trade shows how the Falcons see their future, but also holds the question, what is next for QB Matt Ryan?

Tennessee Titans

After making the playoffs for the second time in as many years during the Ryan Tannehill era, the Tennessee Titans are looking to get over the hump and bring a Super Bowl to Tennessee. Tennessee expects to be in the playoffs, making their draft choices a little more expendable, so the front office decided to make a splash and land WR Julio Jones. Tennessee is in win-now mode and has their star player locked up in Derrick Henry on a team-friendly deal, giving the Titans a little wiggle room to pay for Jones. Julio will join A.J. Brown, a rising receiver who is already considered a WR1, and will be catching passes from QB Ryan Tannehill, a proven starter in the NFL with plus arm talent. Jones makes this offense more versatile when Henry is not at his best, while also opening the field for the running game to be effective as well. This is an all-in move for Tennessee, who are likely now AFC South favorites with this move.

Who Won?

The winner of this trade is the Tennessee Titans because they are doing it to increase the chances of winning a Super Bowl. Atlanta, however, is moving away from that and will now enter the rebuilding phase, which is a painful phase to enter for a fanbase. Atlanta did not maximize Jones’ value by not getting a first-round draft pick back but will look to stockpile picks for the future. Also, the Titans won this deal because their future is clear. Atlanta, however, is not. Yes, you can say they are rebuilding because they traded Julio Jones, but why restructure Matt Ryan to free up cap space if he is not going to be your quarterback much longer. Atlanta is struggling with their identity as a team right now and needs to figure it out so they can make decisions based on that, rather than be stuck in the middle.

Contract details from spotrac.com

Julio Jones quote from Undisputed

Trade details from cbssports.com

Writer

-By: Richie Dordas

After a tough loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the Indianapolis Colts took on their division rival, the Tennessee Titans, in a matchup on Thursday Night Football. The Titans, coming off a win over the Bears, were leading the division coming into the night, but were not able to slow down the Colts, losing 34-17 in a dominating performance by Indianapolis. Let us break the game down and see how they came out victorious.

Colts Play Efficient Offense

The Colts are one of the sounder teams on both sides of the ball, and tonight the offense was as sound as you can be. Indianapolis totaled 308 yards in the air and 133 yards on the ground, possessing the ball for 31:18. They also picked up three huge fourth downs that led to points on the scoreboard.

Statistically, QB Philip Rivers played winning football, posting a line of 29/39, 308 yards, and one touchdown to RB Nyheim Hines. Speaking of Hines, the usual scatback paced the rushing attack, carrying the ball 12 times for 70 yards, finding the endzone once, while also catching five passes for 45 yards and adding a receiving touchdown as mentioned before. WR Michael Pittman Jr. had a career day reeling in seven catches for 101 yards. He also added a 21-yard rush for a total of 122 yards on the day, a career-high. Eight different players caught passes for the Colts, keeping the offense balanced and in rhythm.

Defense and Special Teams Wins Games

While it is not the most glamorous part of football, defense and special teams win games all the time and were able to win this game for the Colts. Defensively, Indianapolis gave up just 294 yards and did a good job of getting off the field, holding the Titans to 3-10 on third down and 0-1 on fourth down. LB Darius Leonard had nine total tackles and DT Denico Autry recorded a sack in the victory.

Out of all three phases, the special teams won the game for the Colts and lost it for the Titans. K Rodrigo Blankenship went 2/2 on FG and 4/4 on XP, compared to Titans K Stephen Gostkowski who went 1/2 on FG and 2/2 on XP. In the punting game, Titans P Trevor Daniel shanked a punt in the third quarter, leading to a touchdown. On another punt, Daniel was blocked and was picked up and taken to the endzone by TJ Carrie. The missed field goal also led to a touchdown for the Colts, who took advantage of the Titans mistake all night.

Corey Davis

While losing the game, Titans WR Corey Davis deserves a ton of credit for producing in this game, let alone playing in it. Earlier in the week, Davis’ brother Titus passed away from a rare cancer called renal medullary carcinoma, a form of kidney cancer at only 27 years old. Playing with a heavy heart, Davis did what he could in the losing effort, leading the air attack with five catches for 67 yards. On the season, the former first-round pick now has 34 catches for 436 yards in six games this season and will look to continue his success in 2020.

Looking Ahead

With both teams now off for ten days, they will be able to get rest and get healthy for Week 11. For the Titans, they will look to rebound and improve to 7-3 against a tough AFC opponent, the Baltimore Ravens (6-2), on the road. As for the Colts, they will look to extend their lead in the division when they host the Green Bay Packers (6-2) in Week 11.

Stats and info from profootballreference.com

Info on Titus Davis from cbssports.com

Writer

-By: Richie Dordas

In the battle of the undefeated, the Titans stood over the Bills like a big brother to a little brother. The Titans won 42-16 and the game was never in doubt since the opening drive. Josh Allen looked mortal and not like the new Josh Allen we have come to see. Ryan Tannehill is continuing to look like a steal for his new contract and the Titans look good as a team even after the COVID-19 testing. 

This game was never in doubt for the Titans as they started the game off with an interception of Josh Allen. Malcolm Butler got an easy one as Andre Roberts let the pass go through his hands and right into Butler’s waiting arms. The Titans then went down and scored to capitalize on the turnover with an AJ Brown fade. The Bills then showed some fight with a 15 play, 76-yard drive that ended in an Isaiah McKenzie three-yard touchdown catch. 

After trading punts, the Titans went on a seven-play scoring drive following a big return by Kalif Raymond. This ended with a Derrick Henry one-yard touchdown that gave the Titans the lead for good. Again the Bills tried to answer with a field goal on the next drive but it wasn’t enough as the Titans finished out the half with a 12 play, 90-yard touchdown drive that ended in a 10-yard scamper from Ryan Tannehill. 

With a resounding lead coming out of the half, the Titans just needed to rely on their workhorse back in Henry. While the Bills needed to get something going on offense as they had been stifled for most of the first half. It started to look promising as the Bills forced a punt and then was marching down the field to a likely score. Unfortunately, Malcolm Butler had other plans as he grabbed another interception and then returned it 68 yards to set up a Jonnu Smith seven-yard strike from Tannehill. Now having capitalized on both turnovers with a touchdown, it pushed for the Bills to strike quickly and in a hurry as they didn’t have much time left. It may have taken a bit longer than they wanted, but the Bills did score on a 14-play drive that was capped with a TJ Yeldon pass from Josh Allen for the score. 

It was too bad that by this point Henry was already warmed up and was throwing defenders off him like rag dolls. He stiff-armed multiple defenders but was exceptionally aggressive to Josh Norman whom he threw like a JV squad player. Henry even finished off the next drive with a nine-yard run to put the game away for good. Then on the ensuing kickoff, things only got worse for the Bills. Andre Roberts got stripped of the ball this time and it was recovered by Tennessee. Tannehill put the final touches on an impressive performance with another strike to Jonnu Smith for his fourth total touchdown of the day to end the game. 

This game just showed us that even with all the new weapons and look of the team, the Bills need to work on some things before they can be a legit title contender. As for the Titans, if they can get COVID under control they are serious contenders this year.

Writer

-By: Darren Braxton