For these Tennessee Titans, beating the wretched Panthers was needed medicine | Estes

Running back Derrick Henry spoke last week about focusing on “efficiency,” meaning he wanted to make the most out of his opportunities with the football. Of course he wants that. It’s one of those obvious goals that’ll get dressed up in football verbiage, making it seem more complex than it really is.

“We’ve just got to block better,” said Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel when asked Sunday about Henry’s efficiency. “Efficient on his plays? I’m not sure what that means. …

“He’ll come up here and you’ll be able to ask him about his efficiency. I’m going to tell you that we’ve got to block better.”

To that, I chuckled.

It was perfect. It was the truth. It was what needed to be said.

These Titans, I figure, could stand a little more bluntness in media settings these days. Beating around the bush, though, is instinctive among players when a team is struggling. Vrabel, as coach, has the luxury of being able to be critical publicly and say what upstanding players like Henry can’t and won’t about their teammates – because they understandably don’t want to appear selfish or point fingers.

Obviously, Titans blockers haven’t provided enough space for Henry to run.

Just like they haven’t provided quarterbacks enough time to throw.

That part, in fairness, didn’t change dramatically in Sunday’s 17-10 hold-on-for-dear-life victory over the wretched Carolina Panthers. Ultimately, the Titans’ defense won this game. It stepped up repeatedly when it was required, bailing out an offense that floundered late.

Otherwise, the best thing you could say about the Titans after this bottom-of-the-barrel NFL matchup was they didn’t blow the lead and lose, thus sparing themselves the indignity and messy fallout of losing to a one-win team at home.

What did change Sunday for the Titans, however, was the energy.

“Energy is different when you win,” Titans cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting said. “When you lose, you can sense moping. You can sense people being upset or feeling sorry for themselves. Obviously, when you win, everything else goes out the window.”

Winning is simple. Losing is what makes it complicated.

To jump on Murphy-Bunting’s point, “everything else” would be the byproduct of losing. Having to explain and rationalize failure. To everyone. To yourself. That’s difficult.

Players start looking in the mirror. What can I change? How can I do more personally? That’s how a Hall of Fame-caliber running back comes up with “efficiency,” like he hasn’t forgotten more about playing running back than most others at the position will ever learn.

But it’s Henry’s job to look for ways he can improve, just like any player on a losing team.

It’s Vrabel’s job, however, to diffuse that and not allow losing to get into a team’s head.

Vrabel played a solid coaching card this past week. He preached a return to simplicity – combating a football player’s tendency to “make up things” during a losing streak, as defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons put it.

“When you get this late in the season,” Simmons said, “guys start thinking a lot, especially when you’re on a losing streak. But then you get reminded just to go back to the base things, what got us here, what helped us win games. Vrabes did a hell of job of showing us that.”

And voila …

Probably had more to do with the Panthers than the Titans. The Titans certainly didn’t fix all their problems by beating a bad opponent. But at least they got to relax and feel good again for a moment. They provided a week for fans to focus on positives and the next game instead of the draft order or Vrabel’s status.

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They also continued to enjoy success at Nissan Stadium, where they’ve quietly become tough to beat. Hasn’t happened this season, and they’ll play here four more times before the season’s end.

If a few other things fall right, hey, who knows?

“Because our good is good enough to win,” Vrabel said. “I know that. I’ve seen it, and I believe in it.”

The Titans weren’t that good on Sunday. But they were good enough to win against a bad team.

That’s as simple as it gets. Simple is good. Helps lead to efficiency.

Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.