ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – The crowd grew, and waited, around the locker of Titans receiver Nick Williams.
His back was turned and he dressed slowly, perhaps dreading the conversation to come. This is what happens in the NFL when a player misses an easy play in a crucial moment and his team loses. He has to answer for it.
This happens every week. Yet it was a strange scene in the visiting locker room at New Era Field, moments after the Buffalo Bills upset the Titans 13-12.
It was strange because it was Nick Williams. And that sums up the prevailing concern about the 3-2 Titans as they return home to take on 3-2 Baltimore.
Williams should have caught the Marcus Mariota pass that would have put the Titans up 13-10 in the fourth quarter. He said so, and so did Mariota’s hands — both of them applied to his helmet in disbelief after the ball squirted through Williams’ arms. But Williams should not have been in position to do so.
The Titans have a real problem at wide receiver, folks. At pass catcher in general, really. And that is not Williams’ fault. He’s just a guy trying to stick in this league and finding opportunity to do so in Nashville because the Titans have encountered some bad luck and did not do enough in the offseason to insure against it.
It’s time to consider mortgaging some future for a trade possibility, to find a proven receiver on a bad team looking to deal. That is, if the Titans believe they can do something significant this season. And they should, Sunday’s outcome notwithstanding.
Absence of Walker, Matthews felt Sunday
There’s nothing of enough value on the open market — sorry, still not buying Dez Bryant as a viable option — but maybe there’s a trade partner and a deal that makes sense. At this point it’s worth a long look.
Some may view Sunday’s loss as Terry Robiskie’s revenge. The oft-maligned former Titans offensive coordinator is Buffalo’s receivers coach, and he got a game ball after his receivers totaled 38 yards in the win. But it was really Rishard’s revenge. That’s Rishard Matthews, the former Titans wideout who used to give Robiskie headaches and who left the Titans depleted when he asked for and got his release less than two weeks ago.
The Titans sure could have used him Sunday. That’s assuming continued progress from the knee injury that kept Matthews out for much of the offseason, and increased involvement in the offense. But that was certainly the plan. That’s why the Titans signed Matthews to an extension through 2019. He is a proven producer.
He and injured tight end Delanie Walker were Mariota’s favorite targets, by a large margin, in the past two seasons. Now Mariota essentially doesn’t throw the ball to tight ends. Jonnu Smith dropped an easy one from him in last week’s win over Philadelphia, and Mariota didn’t even look at a wide-open Smith in Buffalo on the play that eventually resulted in Williams’ drop.
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