Mike Vrabel vs Joe Burrow: NFL ‘toughness’ comes in all forms as Tennessee Titans and Cincinnati Bengals continue to snub adversity

Mike Vrabel and Joe Barrow have become two of the most admired figures in the NFL as different beacons of “toughness” at the forefront of their teams; Watch Cincinnati Bengals @ Tennessee Titans live on Sky Sports NFL from 6pm Sunday

Mike Vrabel and Joe Burrow have one defining characteristic. One of the refusals to put up with difficulties, as two unwavering NFL competitors with a passion for defiance, the ability to win and the sloppiness of it.

Wrabel pushes back regression, Burrow holds back containment and vice versa, both were instrumental in creating and have since embody the identity of their respective various organizations.

They represent different facets of rigidity: hard to win, hard to shake, hard to hold. Neither of them mind animation, but while Vrabel’s anger is not to be trifled with and Nora’s swagger is undeniable, their ability to galvanize is based predominantly on dodgy football intelligence and situational balance rather than hooray. .

The Vrabel Titans are third in the AFC 7-3, having won seven of their last eight, despite trading lead wide receiver AJ Brown during the off-season and losing the starting left tackle to Taylor Levan and 2021 sack leader Harold Landry due to injuries knee at the end of the season. start of the campaign.

The Bengals Burrow are 6-4 and are on the hunt for a second straight playoff with six wins in their last eight, despite not having Jerry Rice against their Joe Montana in the Ja’Marr Chase for a little over three games and continuing passing. defensive weaknesses that led to fourth-most sacks in the league in 11 weeks.

Both are members of the notorious “find a way out” club. Wrabel may not officially feature in Bill Belichick’s coaching tree, but with his seasoned defensive flair and talent for maximizing staff, he may be the most accurate modern-day beacon for belichikism among former Foxborough players/staff who have taken on top coaching duties. Burrow rolls the dice defensively with Montana precision and is admired for his charisma as Joe Namata as the once underrated Ohio State understudy who became LSU National Champion and resurrected the Bengals.

The Titans have exceeded their projected number of wins each season and made the playoffs for three of the four years since Vrabel was named head coach in 2018, while only four teams have a better record than Tennessee (48- 27) during this period. Its consistency is achieved despite disparities in performance on either side of the ball, with the Titans ranked 20th (2021) and 21st (2018) and no higher than 10th (2019) in overall DVOA for four full seasons in charge: Vrabel’s offense has been in the top 10 in the DVOA just twice (sixth in 2019, fourth in 2020) between 23rd in 2018 and 20th in 2021, and his defense ranked 18th, 18th, 29th and 12th since its introduction. He does without entertainment.

“It all starts with intelligence and resilience – that’s where Mike Vrabel stands,” former three-time Super Bowl winner and three-time NFL chief executive Scott Pioli recently told Sky Sports. Vrabel’s time is there as a player. “He is very smart. Not only in football, but also in life, he is attentive, listens with his ears and eyes, sees everything that happens. In terms of toughness, having spent 26 years in the NFL, I don’t know many people who are stronger mentally and physically than Mike Vrabel.

“He just has this ability and strength in his personality where he knows his limits but pushes himself with no problem. These are the tenants he built his football team on.”