When Tennessee travels to Jacksonville for Thursday night's AFC South matchup -- airing exclusively on NFL Network -- the Jaguars will find a noticeably improved Titans defense under former Steelers coordinator Dick LeBeau.
Defensive end Jurrell Casey remains one of the NFL's unsung superstars, joined this season by revitalized edge rusher Brian Orakpo.
"(Orakpo is) one of those guys that when opponents say, 'Who's a game-wrecker?' -- he's one of them," interim coach Mike Mularkey said, via the Tennessean. "Our defense has done a good job of scheming to try to get him some one-on-one matchups and move him around. Teams have struggled with that. He has been coming like that since day one, since he's been here."
In addition to six sacks, Orakpo leads the team with 20 quarterback pressures and eight tackles for a loss. With the former RedskinsPro Bowler leading the charge, the Titans sacked Cam Newton a season-high five times in last week's defeat to the Panthers.
"(Orakpo) was the kind of guy we needed in the offseason," linebacker Wesley Woodyard said, "and we went out and got him."
The Titans are on pace for 48 sacks, which would qualify as their most since the Jevon Kearse-led 2000 squad that lost to the Super Bowl champion Ravens in the playoffs.
"It gives the quarterbacks less time back there," safety Da'Norris Searcy explained, "and it gives us a chance to get at more balls."
Despite injuries to starting cornerbacks Jason McCourty and Perrish Cox, LeBeau's defense ranks 13th overall and eighth against the pass in Football Outsiders' efficiency ratings.
Just as Blake Bortles is leading the most explosive Jacksonville offense in years, the Jaguars will discover that Tennessee's defense is a stiffer test with Orakpo and Casey wreaking havoc behind the line of scrimmage.
