National Football League

Titans' bold decision firing GM; Trevor Lawrence injury status: AFC South analysis

Updated Dec. 7, 2022 4:06 p.m. ET

Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk stays away from the spotlight. She rarely does interviews. She empowers those around her, from the football and business sides, to make big decisions.

But Adams Strunk took the lead on Tuesday in the stunning decision Tuesday to fire general manager Jon Robinson.

It was a bold decision, considering it was in-season — late in-season — and that she just signed Robinson (along with coach Mike Vrabel) in February to a multi-year extension. Robinson helped guide the franchise from obscurity in 2015 into relevance by the next season. No other general manager in franchise history has had more winning seasons than Robinson's six.

But deep into 2022, the team is proving, once again, that it's a rung below the NFL's elite. By terminating Robinson now, Adams Strunk showed that she could no longer remain idle with that status quo.

On Sunday, in a December road game against the Eagles, the Titans had the chance to make a statement against a Super Bowl contender. Instead, they were humiliated, suffering a 35-10 defeat at Lincoln Financial Field, watching their former star receiver A.J. Brown — whom Robinson wouldn't pay in the spring — have a field day. It marked the Titans' second straight loss in consecutive weeks to a playoff contender that was the more physical team at the line of scrimmage, which Tennessee prides itself on being.

Between the losses to the Eagles and Bengals, the Titans averaged just 3.5 yards per carry, with star running back Derrick Henry totaling 28 carries for just 68 rushing yards (2.4 yards per carry). The pass rush, Tennessee's biggest strength the last couple of seasons, was lackluster against two of the NFL's best quarterbacks in Joe Burrow and Jalen Hurts, who diced up the Titans secondary on Sunday. The Bengals were also the first team to have more than 100 rushing yards on the Titans since Week 2.

Jalen Hurts and Eagles pummel Titans

The Eagles beat the Titans 35-10 in a dominant win. Jalen Hurts threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns, including two to former Titan A.J. Brown.

The Titans have less top-end talent than other contending teams, especially on offense. So they can't be "out-toughed." Their identity, and hopes of a playoff run, depends on physicality. It's why their back-to-back losses are so concerning.

"I told the team I think we are at a crossroads at kind of how we want to continue down this season," Vrabel said postgame Sunday.

And like the Eagles game, the Titans earlier this season had an opportunity on the road against a Super Bowl contender — the Bills — and were blown out. Just one of the Titans' seven wins has come against a team currently with a winning record: the Commanders, who are 7-5-1 but on the outside of the playoffs looking in entering Week 14. And all five of the Titans' losses have come to teams that currently have winning records. Tennessee hasn't proven it can beat good teams, let alone great ones.

So sure, the Titans are on the fast track to a fourth straight playoff appearance, with a third straight division title nearly clinched — they have a 98% chance of winning the AFC South, according to FiveThirtyEight. But they're once again shaping up to be a strong regular-season team destined for an early postseason exit.

And that's not enough for Adams Strunk.

Other thoughts across the AFC South:

Jaguars avoid disaster with Trevor Lawrence, but his status up in air ahead of critical division matchup

The Jaguars QB was hurt on the final play of the first half in Sunday's 40-14 loss to the Lions. Lawrence's left foot got twisted under the body of Lions linebacker James Houston, who sacked him.

While Lawrence appears to have avoided a major injury, his status ahead of Sunday's game against the Titans is uncertain. Coach Doug Pederson said Tuesday that the second-year quarterback will be "day-to-day" and won't practice Wednesday, though he noted that Wednesday's practice will also have more of a walkthrough tempo. Lawrence will take "mental reps," Pederson added.

"We still got several days before the game, but he's tough," Pederson said when asked about the level of concern of Lawrence not being able to play. "I know he'll do everything in his power to try to be out there."

The Jaguars still have a chance to make the playoffs, albeit slim, so Lawrence's availability will be huge. A loss to the Titans would officially eliminate the Jaguars from contention for the AFC South title, and would drop their playoff chances to 0.1%, according to FiveThirtyEight.

Did the Colts defense give up against the Cowboys?

Even in a miserable season defined by a dreadful offense that's not improving, the Colts had been able to depend on a defense that gives them chances.

Indianapolis has been in a number of games decided in the fourth quarter, despite its low scoring output, and that's because of Gus Bradley's unit. Colts opponents scored 20 or fewer points in seven of Indy's first 12 games.

That's because of DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart, who've anchored an impressive run defense. It's because of inside linebacker Zaire Franklin, enjoying a breakout season as one of the NFL's tackling leaders. It's because of cornerback Stephon Gilmore, who has proven he's still one of the top players at his position at age 32. It's because of so many others.

Sunday's embarrassing 54-19 loss to the Cowboys was the first time it felt like the defense gave up, like it succumbed to the chaos and ineptitude that has defined the team.

Was Cowboys' 54-19 win vs. Colts that impressive?

David Helman discusses whether Dallas' win over the Colts was something or nothing based on the strength of the Cowboys' opponent.

The defense was responsible for 48 of the Cowboys' 54 points (one of Dallas' touchdowns was the result of a fumble return). It gave up 28 of those points in the fourth quarter. The 220 rushing yards the Colts allowed were the most they'd given up since Week 6.

Short fields for Dallas after turnovers didn't help the cause, but Indianapolis' defense wilted in the moment, which hasn't been the case for most of 2022.

The Colts were trailing by just two points entering the fourth quarter and lost by 35.

"That's not our standard," defensive end Yannick Ngakoue said.

Texans offense finds a new low in loss to Deshaun Watson, Browns

In Sunday's 27-14 Texans loss, Houston scored one touchdown while Cleveland's defense had two: cornerback Denzel Ward's four-yard fumble return score in the third quarter and linebacker Tony Field II's 16-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter.

While the Texans got standout rookie running back Dameon Pierce back on track (18 carries, 73 yards) after 16 rushing yards combined in his previous two games, quarterback Kyle Allen had his second straight two-interception performance. Houston converted just one third down and the offense had at least three giveaways for the second straight week.

The offense's shortcomings wasted a strong defensive performance against Deshaun Watson, making his return after nearly two years, and the Browns. In the first half, second-round rookie safety Jalen Pitre picked off Watson in the end zone and defensive tackle Roy Lopez tackled running back Nick Chubb in the end zone for a safety on back-to-back series.

The Texans defense held the Browns without an offensive touchdown, registered two takeaways and limited Cleveland to 130 passing yards, a season low. And that was without their No. 1 cornerback, Derek Stingley Jr., who missed his third straight game with a hamstring injury.

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Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.