The Tennessee Titans (4-2) found a way to win their fifth straight against the Indianapolis Colts, notching an ugly 19-10 victory in Week 7.
It may look ugly often, but Tennessee has now won its fourth straight game, giving itself some breathing room atop the division. Most importantly, the Titans are surviving every single week as they hopefully inch towards the much-needed return of Treylon Burks.
As you would expect, similarly to the team itself, there’s nothing too flashy about this week’s report. Keep in mind that all of the data that is used in this article was collected from a fantastic analytics team over at Next Gen Stats.
Despite not having the flashiest performance of the weekend, there are still several noteworthy nuggets worth discussing, such as Bud Dupree’s instant impact upon returning to the football field, Derrick Henry’s continued consistency, and so much more.
Let’s dive right into this week’s Next Gen Stats report.
Bud Dupree instantly makes his presence felt
After being being ruled out and exiting other games early with a nagging hip injury, Bud Dupree returned to the football field on Sunday and made his presence felt from the get-go.
The former Steeler was constantly being a nuisance in the opposing backfield to start the game and you got the feeling that he was about to make a massive play at any moment.
Shortly after, Dupree once again got in the backfield, forcing an errant Matt Ryan throw which fell right into the hands of Titans safety Andrew Adams en route to a 76-yard pick-six that ultimately gave the Titans a 10-0 lead.
The Kentucky product wasn’t done there. After being close throughout the game, he finally broke through and got a sack of his own.
This is not only Dupree’s second sack of the year, but according to Next Gen Stats, the Titans’ pass-rusher has gotten a sack in every game this season that he’s averaged under 4 yards of distance from the opposing quarterback (3.38 yards).
In fact, Dupree, Teair Tart (3.93 yards), Denico Autry (4.19 yards), and Jeffery Simmons (4.23), were all under the league average of 4.53 yards of distance from the opposing quarterback on passing downs.
Tennessee will need more production like this out of Dupree going forward if it wants to continue being one of the best defensive lines in football.
Austin Hooper redemption game
Prior to today’s game, Titans tight end Austin Hooper caught a lot of heat for not living up to preseason expectations. These feelings were often amplified due to the fact that there were so many reports this offseason surrounding how well Hooper was performing with Ryan Tannehill throwing him the ball.
Fortunately, all that chemistry-building finally paid off on a day when Hooper was the team’s leading receiver.
The former Stanford Cardinal’s biggest play came on a crucial third down where he made what will probably end up being one of the best catches of the season.
WILD catch from @AustinHooper18 🤯
📺: Watch #INDvsTEN on @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/1pvLxmYu8P
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) October 23, 2022
It’s a safe bet that whenever they play that end-of-season recap at NFL Honors, this catch by Hooper will be among those plays that are shown.
The Titans tight end finished with a total of 56 receiving yards on three receptions. And, Hooper was also the only pass-catcher on the day who averaged more separation than the league average (2.92 yards).
The former Pro Bowler averaged 3.51 yards of separation on all of his routes run on Sunday. Cody Hollister was the next closest with 2.51 yards of separation, while Robert Woods (1.37 yards), and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (0.95 yards), struggled to get any separation against the Colts.
This obviously isn’t ideal, but as I said in a previous article, the Titans would much rather be figuring this problem out in first place with a 4-2 record instead of being in second at 3-3.
Derrick Henry continues to shine
For the third straight week, star running back Derrick Henry has eclipsed 100 rushing yards while also surpassing 130 total yards in each of the four games that the Titans have won in a row.
The star running back had a balanced attack on a day that he rushed for 69 yards on runs that went through the left side of the line, and a respectable 59 yards when running right.
In total, Henry rushed for 128 yards on 30 carries (4.3 yards per carry). The Titans hope to keep this type of production going from their All-Pro running back for the foreseeable future, especially with the passing attack struggling.
Game leaders
Ryan Tannehill Passing Chart
Derrick Henry rushing chart
