When the Tennessee Titans host the Los Angeles Chargers at Nissan Stadium on Sunday, both teams will be looking for their first win of the season.
The Titans lost a close game to the New Orleans Saints, 16-15, in what was a putrid showing from quarterback Ryan Tannehill, whose three interceptions wasted a sensational effort from the defense and wrecked the game.
Buy Titans TicketsThe Chargers had a much better showing on offense with a 34-point performance, but the defense didn’t hold up its end of the bargain, surrendering 36 points to the high-powered Miami Dolphins attack.
Here’s a look at six things to know about the Week 2 matchup.
Head-to-head history
This will be the 49th all-time meeting between the Titans and Chargers, with Los Angeles owning the advantage in the regular season with a 28-15-1 record. However, the Titans/Oilers have a 3-1 advantage in the playoffs.
The first meeting between these franchises took place all the way back in 1960, when the Titans were the Oilers, and the last was in 2022.
The previous two meetings have been split, with the Titans winning 23-20 in 2019 in Tennessee, and the Chargers winning 17-14 in 2022 in Los Angeles.
Since moving to Tennessee, the Titans are 2-3 against the Chargers at home but have won each of the last two contests against L.A. at Nissan Stadium.
Titans are home dogs
After their respective starts to the season, it comes as no surprise that Los Angeles is favored by three points, according to BetMGM, even with the game being in Tennessee.
Titans' 2022 season really ended in Los Angeles
While the Titans were in a win-and-in game in Week 18, their season really ended in Week 15 against the Chargers, when Tannehill re-aggravated his ankle injury, forcing him to miss the last three contests.
As a result, the Titans had to march out Malik Willis and Joshua Dobbs to close out the season. One can’t help but wonder if Tennessee’s fortunes would’ve been different if Tannehill was healthy enough to play.
Even still, the Titans weren’t going very far with the offensive line they were sporting in 2022.
No. 1 rushing attack vs. elite run defense
It’s only been one game but the Chargers do sport the No. 1 rushing attack in the NFL after ripping off 233 yards on the ground against the Dolphins in Week 1. Meanwhile, the Titans’ defense was as stout as ever against the run, with Tennessee’s unit giving up just 69 yards, the fifth-fewest in the league.
The Titans have owned an elite run defense in each of the last two seasons, ranking No. 2 in 2021 and No. 1 in 2022.
Los Angeles does have an injury concern in its backfield, though, as running back Austin Ekeler, who piled up 117 rushing yards last week, is dealing with an ankle injury ahead of Sunday.
Battle of new offensive coordinators
One thing both of these teams have in common is the fact they have new play-callers on offense, with the Titans hiring Tim Kelly and the Chargers bringing in Kellen Moore.
Moore’s offense was wildly successful in Week 1, with Los Angeles dropping 34 points in a losing effort. Kelly’s debut with the Titans wasn’t as successful in a 15-point game for Tennessee, but that was largely due to the play of Tannehill.
Scrimmage yard monsters
While it remains to be seen if he’ll play due to the aforementioned injury, Ekeler has managed to compile 100 or more scrimmage yards eight times since the start of the 2022 campaign, tied for sixth-most among running backs in that span and eighth-most among non-quarterbacks.
Meanwhile, Derrick Henry, who crossed the century mark in Week 1, has tallied 13 such games, which is tops in the NFL among non-quarterbacks.
