The Tennessee Titans finally got back in the win column in Week 12, beating the Carolina Panthers, 17-10. It wasn’t the type of win to write home about, but Tennessee desperately needed a victory after losing its last three outings.
It was undoubtedly an ugly win against the worst team in the league, and it makes you wonder just how many more victories the 2023 Titans have in them, considering much tougher opponents are ahead.
Getting a much-needed victory at least creates a sliver of hope going forward, but the Titans must play better football if they want any chance at stacking some victories together over teams that aren’t the Panthers.
There were some impressive individual performances by a few players and position groups in Tennessee’s latest win. Unfortunately, there were also a couple of forgettable ones.
Now, let’s find out which players made this week’s stock report following Tennessee’s seven-point victory over Carolina.
Stock up: Titans' pass-rush
The trio of Jeffery Simmons, Denico Autry, and Arden Key wreaked havoc in Week 12, totaling 10 tackles, six tackles for loss, five quarterback hits, four sacks, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery between the three of them.
This is the type of performance we all expected to be a regular occurrence going into the season. Let’s hope this type of tenaciousness continues whenever they’re not playing the worst team in the NFL.
Stock down: OLB Harold Landry
After having some solid games recently, Harold Landry has seemingly hit a wall these last two weeks.
He has only recorded two quarterback hits over that span, and was one of the few who didn’t take advantage of a poor Panthers offensive line on Sunday. Landry has started to flash signs of his old self, but those flashes weren’t there in Week 12.
Stock up: Jaelyn Duncan (and the offensive line)
The Titans’ offensive line took a good step forward against a formidable Panthers defensive front. Say what you want about the Panthers as a whole, but they have some talented pieces in that front seven.
It wasn’t perfect by any means — Tennessee definitely has to clean up the false start penalties and do a better job of not getting beat off the edge at times — but it was a positive day, all things considered.
The Titans only allowed one sack and rookie Jaelyn Duncan was a positive at left tackle, which in turn has earned him another start. The Maryland product had some issues early on but settled in after giving up a few early pressures.
Fellow rookie and guard Peter Skoronski is starting to look like the player he was prior to his emergency appendectomy. In 29 pass-blocking snaps, he didn’t allow a single sack or pressure on the day.
Stock down: CB Kristian Fulton
Kristian Fulton has arguably been the Titans’ biggest letdown this season. On top of being a liability in coverage, he’s suddenly developed ridiculously bad habits that have cost the team a handful of times in the form of backbreaking penalties. It’s probably a safe bet that his tenure in Tennessee is nearing its end.
Stock up: TE Chig Okonkwo
After finding himself in the stock-down section of this article a handful of times this season, Chig Okonkwo finally took a positive step forward against the Panthers.
Okonkwo was second on the team in receiving yards, totaling 45 on four catches, including a nice grab on a ball that quarterback Will Levis got to him just before he got hit. He finished the day with the second-highest overall grade on offense (69.8), per Pro Football Focus.
Stock up: S K’Von Wallace
The Titans safety was all over the field in Week 12.
K’Von Wallace played 85.1 percent of the defensive snaps (57) and saw the field more than Elijah Molden. Wallace finished with the second-most tackles on the day with nine.
Even when he didn’t make the play himself, Wallace was always around the ball and in position to help his teammates out. I expect to see a lot more extended playing time for Wallace going forward.
