After a 2022 campaign that was filled with frustration on the offensive side of the ball, the Tennessee Titans picked up where they left off with an abysmal showing in a Week 1 loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Tennessee was unable to muster up a single touchdown the entire game and despite having a much better surrounding cast than last year, quarterback Ryan Tannehill played one of the worst games of his career.
Buy Titans TicketsOn the bright side, the defense was very good for the most part, kicker Nick Folk was as advertised in his Titans debut and the offensive line was good enough to not wreck this game.
Now, let’s dive a bit deeper and see who qualified as a winner, loser and somewhere in between following the Titans’ 16-15 loss to the Saints.
Loser: QB Ryan Tannehill
Tannehill had one of the worst performances of his career on Sunday. In fact, it was the first time since his rookie season he recorded three picks and zero touchdowns in a game.
Tannehill’s three picks were all terrible decisions, with two of them being thrown into double coverage. He also missed open receivers all game long and overshot tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo on a flea flicker for a would-be touchdown.
A lot of Tannehill’s struggles from 2022 could be blamed on the pieces around him. In Week 1 of 2023, it was all on Tannehill.
In between: The offensive line
Andre Dillard was heading for the loser’s column during the first half after he was manhandled by Carl Granderson, but he was able to settle in as the game progressed. Even still, Tennessee needs more consistency from its left tackle moving forward.
That was pretty much the same story for the entire unit, which was OK but not great in pass protection. Run-blocking was impressive early on but that waned in the second half.
No matter your opinion, this one can’t be blamed on the offensive line, although things need to get better upfront.
Loser: OC Tim Kelly
There was nothing Kelly could do to overcome Tannehill’s struggles, so the “loser” label isn’t about the overall performance of the offense. Instead, it’s more about his personnel decisions.
Despite the fact that Derrick Henry was ripping off chunks of yardage and clearly the best player on offense in the first half, Kelly insisted on utilizing Tyjae Spears more, even on early downs.
When it was all said and done, Spears actually ended up out-snapping Henry, which is inexcusable, especially in a close game where the passing attack was struggling.
RB snap counts for #Titans vs. Saints pic.twitter.com/CCm8Z6wAvS
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) September 10, 2023
Kelly also needed to draw up more plays for Chig Okonkwo and Treylon Burks. They had two less targets combined (five) than Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (seven).
Winner: K Nick Folk
Folk accounted for all of the Titans’ offense on Sunday, making all five of his field goal attempts, including one from 50 yards out. It’s nice to have a good kicker who can also make longer field goals, eh?
Winner: OLB Arden Key
Key was an absolute menace in the first half, tallying 1.5 sacks and multiple more pressures, as well as a tackle for loss and one pass defensed. He should have had a strip sack, also, but the officials and the booth botched the call on what was clearly a fumble.
Unfortunately, Key didn’t have much of an impact in the second half, but he more than showed he’s going to be a difference-maker for Tennessee in 2023.
Winner: DE Denico Autry
Like Key, Autry didn’t do much in the second half, but he did tally a ton of pressures en route to 1.5 sacks and four QB hits in total. Autry also made some great plays in the run game.
Winner: The defensive front
On top of Autry and Key, Jeffery Simmons and Teair Tart made some plays and the Titans limited the Saints to just 69 yards on 27 carries, making New Orleans’ offense one-dimensional. If not for the effort, especially in the pass-rush, it might’ve been a really ugly day for the secondary.
Loser: The secondary
The secondary helped bail out a struggling Saints offense by giving up big plays throughout the game. New Orleans was able to rack up a handful of plays of 20-plus yards, including a game-sealing 41-yard reception in the fourth quarter that prevented the Titans from getting the ball back.
Adding injury to insult, Kristian Fulton, who gave up the aforementioned 41-yard grab, missed most of the game due to a hamstring injury suffered in the first half. Also, Amani Hooker is in the concussion protocol.
Winner: S Amani Hooker
Hooker forced a pair of turnovers in this game. He got the Titans going by forcing and recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff and his interception thwarted a Saints drive in Titans territory. He finished with five tackles, the pick, two passes defensed and a tackle for loss.
Hopefully he’s OK after it was revealed he’s in the concussion protocol following the game.
Bonus losers: The officials
Where do we even begin with the zebras, who were even worse than Tannehill on Sunday?
Two blown calls in the first half forced head coach Mike Vrabel to use all of his challenges before intermission, and one of those challenges on what was clearly a fumble was botched by the booth.
Not to mention, Saints defensive backs were all over the backs of Titans wide receivers on several occasions, yet no flags were thrown.
The Titans still should’ve won the game, but the officials deserve to be spotlighted for how awful they were in Week 1.
