The Tennessee Titans fell to 1-2 in Week 3 after being embarrassed by the Cleveland Browns on Sunday afternoon, losing 27-3.
The offense was an absolute disaster on Sunday. The offensive line was just awful, both in run-blocking and pass protection. Derrick Henry had no room to run and Ryan Tannehill had no time to pass the ball.
Buy Titans TicketsAnd, as had been the case through the previous two games, left tackle Andre Dillard was the biggest culprit, as he was routinely torched by Myles Garrett. We’ll touch on that more below.
While the defense was able to keep the game respectable for the better part of three quarters as the offense did nothing, even that side of the ball eventually gave way, with the secondary being particularly bad.
Deshaun Watson has done nothing but struggle since going to Cleveland, but a matchup with his old AFC South foe was just what the doctor ordered, apparently.
If you can stomach it, here’s everything we know from Week 3.
Final score: Browns 27, Titans 3
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| TEN | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| CLE | 3 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 27 |
Titans' top performers
WR DeAndre Hopkins: 3 REC, 48 YDS
WR Chris Moore: 2 REC, 41 YDS
K Nick Folk: 1-1 FG
Instant analysis: Offense
-Tannehill missed a few throws but was OK when he had time to throw. Unfortunately, he wasn’t afforded much time with poor pass protection throughout the game, resulting in five sacks and several more pressures.
-Andre Dillard was once again the biggest culprit and was routinely getting cooked by Myles Garrett, who finished with 3.5 sacks. One of Garrett’s sacks came when the Titans actually gave Dillard help (Trevon Wesco got beat) but they didn’t do enough of that. The Titans should give Peter Skoronski a look at left tackle, but don’t get your hopes up considering this is the same head coach who left Dennis Daley out there as long as he did in 2022.
-On top of poor pass protection, the run-blocking was non-existent. Granted, the Browns came into this game with an elite run defense, so that wasn’t totally unexpected, but offensive coordinator Tim Kelly’s play-calling was very predictable, which certainly didn’t help things.
-Treylon Burks dropped two passes on third downs and finished with one catch for five yards. Chig also had a drop on a third down but likely wouldn’t have gotten the yardage he needed, anyway.
-DeAndre Hopkins led the way for Tennessee’s receivers with three catches for 48 yards, including an impressive 26-yard grab. Chris Moore had another big catch for 33 yards and finished with 41 yards in total.
-Tennessee’s only points came off a fumble recovered and returned inside Cleveland’s 20. The Titans went on to post three negative plays before kicking the field goal.
-Tennessee was 2-for-12 on third downs and gained just 94 yards of total offense (68 passing, 26 rushing).
Instant analysis: Defense
-The Titans notched three sacks but whiffed on at least a handful more. Finishing the aforementioned sacks would have thwarted a few scoring drives. The pressure waned as the game progressed, which is not a surprise considering the Titans couldn’t sustain drives, leaving the defense tired.
-With the pass-rush not able to get home as much as it should have, the Titans’ secondary was routinely exposed. Now, that’s not to blame the pass-rush for the struggles of the secondary, it’s just how things go with Tennessee’s lackluster group on the back end.
-Making matters worse, Kristian Fulton and Sean Murphy-Bunting helped bail the Browns out on a few drives with a pass interference and defensive holding, respectively.
-Fulton needed a big season in a contract year, but so far he isn’t having it. If it wasn’t penalties, Fulton was getting beat in coverage. His worst play of the game came on the long touchdown to Amari Cooper, where Fulton looked to be asleep as the veteran wideout ran right past him. He wasn’t the only one to struggle on Sunday, for sure, but his terrible play stood out the most. Cooper should’ve had another long touchdown on Fulton but the refs totally blew a call, ruling Cooper out of bounds when he wasn’t even close.
-The Browns were 6-for-13 on third downs and 2-2 in the red zone.
Instant analysis: Special teams
-With Kearis Jackson out, Tyjae Spears handled kickoffs and Mason Kinsey handled punt returns. Kinsey returned one for 13 yards and Spears’ lone return went for 21.
-Nick Folk remains perfect on the season with field goals, going 1-for-1 (44 yards).
-Ryan Stonehouse booted seven punts for an average of 53.4 yards per.
Highlights
SMB with strip and recovery!
📺: Watch #TENvsCLE on @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/UwToRIs0vi
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) September 24, 2023
🔟 toes in @DeAndreHopkins
📺: Watch #TENvsCLE on @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/VMQHkDcxVV
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) September 24, 2023
CHRIS MOORE WILL TAKE THAT
📺: Watch #TENvsCLE on @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/CQPUl7Y3G7
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) September 24, 2023
Injuries
-Julius Chestnut (hamstring): Chestnut suffered the injury in the first quarter and was immediately ruled out. He had to be helped off the field.
What's next?
The Titans (1-2) will return home and lick their wounds after an awful showing against the Browns, but another tough matchup awaits them with the Cincinnati Bengals coming to town.
