The offense needs to get on track, but is the defense actually improving despite a struggling defensive line?
Offense
Climbed out of the Bottom 30: Nothing.
Climbed into the Top 30: Nothing.
Fell into the Bottom 30: Joining 4th down conversion percentage in the cellar are Total Offense and First Downs Offense. There’s a line at the door, too.
Fell out of the Top 30: Tackles for Loss Allowed and Red Zone Offense.
This thing looks like my lawn: not a lick of green and a single spark away from catching on fire.
Defense
Climbed out of the Bottom 30: Nothing.
Climbed into the Top 30: Um . . . nothing.
Fell into the Bottom 30: Team Tackles for Loss joins 3rd Down Conversion Pct Defense.
Fell out of the Top 30: Red Zone Defense.
Really, considering that the Vols can’t generate a pass rush or push the line back with just its defensive line, this isn’t terrible. Pass defense is pretty good, assuming that it’s not just because everybody’s too busy running the ball. But even the rushing defense appears to be improving.
Special Teams
Still the strength of the team.
Turnovers and Penalties
Penalties are not terrible from a quantity standpoint, but are significantly worse from a number-of-yards perspective. The turnovers categories appear to be very volatile from game to game, so they just need to do it every time.