The Week 11 showing from the Tennessee Titans’ offense in a 27-17 win over the Green Bay Packers left fans wondering one thing: who is this team?
Ryan Tannehill and Co. posted the offense’s best showing of the 2022 season on Thursday night and did just about everything this offense hasn’t been able to do all year long.
There were plenty of great throws, some big plays down the field, and just overall good play-calling that led to what amounts to an offensive explosion for this group.
The 27-point effort was Tennessee’s highest output in a game this year and was a much-needed showing of support for an elite defense that didn’t end up needing that many points anyway, but no doubt appreciated.
This week’s list is filled with offensive players, but one coach is making his first appearance in the winner’s column after having failed to do so over the first nine games.
Winner: QB Ryan Tannehill
Tannehill had his best game of the season on Thursday night, completing 22-of-27 passes for a season-high 333 yards and two touchdowns to one interception.
The veteran signal-caller was sharp all night long outside of the pick and looked more like the 2019 and 2020 versions of himself. It also helped that his receivers did their jobs and balled out.
Tannehill’s best throws of the night were his pair of long completions to Treylon Burks, as well as his touchdown pass to Austin Hooper that saw Tannehill fit the ball into a very tight window.
If the Titans can get more of this from Tannehill — and the offense as a whole — in combination with the elite defense, Tennessee is going to be really hard to beat the rest of the way.
Winner: WR Treylon Burks
Burks finally had his true breakout game in Week 11, reeling in season-highs in catches (seven) and receiving yards (111).
Making his showing even more impressive was the pair of 40-plus-yard catches he had, one of which helped setup points, and the other iced the contest in the fourth and was over star cornerback Jaire Alexander.
But Burks also came up with some important grabs that weren’t highlight-reel plays, including a big chain-moving catch on the Titans’ second scoring drive that led to a touchdown on the next play.
This is what we hoped to see from Burks coming out, and it’s just what the doctor ordered for a Titans passing attack that needs a consistent spark, no matter who it is.
Hopefully this game is a sign of things to come for the rookie, and for this passing attack in general. If Burks can continue to establish himself as the No. 1, this offense has a chance to take off.
Winner: Todd Downing
For the very first time this season, Titans offensive coordinator Todd Downing makes his way into the winner’s side.
Downing called his best game of the 2022 campaign and the Titans promptly scored a season-high 27 points on the road against the Packers.
The embattled offensive coordinator made it an emphasis to get Burks involved most, but also did a great job working in Woods and Hooper. We’d still like to see more from Chig, but the rookie did have a 31-yard grab.
Downing also showed his creative side with a few trick plays, and dialed up a pair of deep balls for Burks. One set up a touchdown, while the other was a pure gusto move to put the finishing touches on the win.
Was it all perfect? No, but it was certainly good and a very encouraging sign for this offense, which now needs to string together multiple performances like this.
Do that and I’ll be a believer.
Winner: RB Derrick Henry
Henry didn’t have much room to run on the ground, but he still managed to gain 87 yards, pick up some big first downs, and he rushed for a touchdown.
But Henry did more than just run the football on Thursday night — like, a lot more.
The King’s 42-yard reception on a rare successful screen helped setup the Titans’ first touchdown drive of the second half, and he completed two passes for four yards, one of which was a trick-play jump pass that worked.
In what was a box-score-stuffing night, the King finished with 28 carries for 87 yards and one touchdown, two catches for 45 yards, and a pair of completions for four yards and the score.
The man literally did it all on Thursday night.
Winner: WR Robert Woods
Much like the entire Titans offense up until Week 11, it has been a rough year for Robert Woods, but he looked more like Bobby Trees than he has in quite some time on Thursday night.
Woods was getting open regularly and finished with what would’ve been a team-high 69 yards before Burks’ 51-yard grab late in the game. His six receptions were a season-high, and his yards were the most since Week 3.
Winner: TE Austin Hooper
Hooper had been the Titans’ most consistent pass-catcher over the last four weeks, and he continued to make an impact in Week 11.
The veteran tight end finished with four catches for 36 yards, but two of those catches were touchdowns. His ability to reel-in the 16-yard strike despite being tightly covered was particularly impressive.
Hooper has been a real difference-maker since Week 7 and must continue to have a significant role moving forward.
Winner: Titans' coverage
On a night when the Titans’ pass-rush didn’t have its best stuff against future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers, the secondary stepped up big time to provide the necessary support.
Granted, the Titans got away with a few thanks to some Rodgers misfires, and there were other miscues, but the coverage on the back-end was good overall, and the defensive backs even got involved in stopping the run.
The Titans’ lone sack, which was recorded by Jeffery Simmons, was the result of great coverage.
In all, Rodgers threw for just 215 yards (his third-lowest output of 2022) and two touchdowns, one of which was the result of the Titans simply being caught with their pants down.
Winner: Titans' run defense
Surprise, surprise, a Titans opponent did nothing on the ground.
Tennessee’s suffocating run defense allowed a measly 56 yards on 2.9 yards per tote, making Green Bay’s offense one-dimensional.
With this latest sensational showing, the Titans (82.2) now own the No. 1 run defense in the NFL going into Sunday’s action. The San Francisco 49ers (82.7) are right there, though, and could very well take back the top spot.
In between: Titans' defense
This in between has nothing to do with the defense’s performance, which was excellent overall. Instead, it has to do with — you guessed it — the injuries.
Denico Autry went down with a knee issue in the third quarter and did not return to the game. He was able to limp off under his own power but looked distressed on the bench before being carted to the locker room.
We haven’t seen an update on him yet but it goes without saying how scary that situation is, as Autry is an incredibly impactful player. He’s also one of four Titans to play in every game since 2021.
Then, in the fourth quarter, Kristian Fulton was ruled questionable to return with a hamstring injury before not returning. Fulton was listed with a hamstring injury on this week’s injury report.
Whatever the case may be, an already injury-plagued Titans defense now has two more players to worry about looking ahead to Week 12.
The good news is Tennessee has four extra days to get their wounded right, and this team has an uncanny ability to plug-and-play guys when injuries occur on defense. The Titans will be fine as long as neither is out long term.
TE Chigoziem Okonkwo
As we said before, we still want to see more from Chig, but his overall lack of targets weren’t as glaring on a night when other guys stepped up big.
Even with just two targets, Chig still managed to rip off a 31-yard, over-the-shoulder catch that showed a great ability to track the football. In terms of a pure catch, that was Okonkwo’s best of his rookie campaign.
Once is an accident, twice a coincidence, but three times is a pattern. Chig is a big play waiting to happen and we need to see more of him moving forward.
