The Tennessee Titans made a statement to the country with their double-digit victory over the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night.
Make no mistake about it, Tennessee’s 27-17 victory was much more impressive than the scoreboard indicates. The Titans never trailed in this game as they physically dominated the opposition in its home stadium.
Lambeau Field is often known for being one of the more hostile environments in the NFL.
But on this night it was turned into an evening full-on frustration for the home team that included booing and defeated body language by many of the Packers players, coaches, and fans in attendance.
Nevertheless, from the Titans’ perspective, it was a successful day on the field filled with plenty of incredible moments.
Now that the game is over, it’s time to take a closer look at some of the analytics and see what stood out most following Thursday’s impressive performance.
Ryan Tannehill’s incredible day
The Titans quarterback had an awesome game in front of a national audience on Thursday evening.
Ryan Tannehill was not only efficient and accurate throughout this one, but the veteran quarterback also showed the type of aggressive alpha mentality that we haven’t seen from him in quite some time.
Tennessee’s signal-caller consistently attacked the entire field with pinpoint precision, producing the highest Completion Percentage Over Expectation (CPOE) out of any quarterback over the last three seasons (+20.0 percent).
Tannehill also earned Next Gen Stats’ highest passing score of the season after receiving an impressive grade of 97 for his efforts on Thursday.
The Texas native accounted for 125 passing yards on throws that were at least 30 yards downfield, 67 yards on intermediate throws (10-20 yards), and 141 yards on passes that were at or behind the line of scrimmage.
In total, the Texas A&M product completed 22-of-27 passes for 333 yards (12.3 yards per attempt), two touchdowns, and one interception that he undoubtedly would like back.
Despite the blemish, the 11th-year quarterback had three passes that had less than a 40 percent chance of being completed.
The first of those came on Austin Hooper’s 16-yard touchdown reception which only had a 38.2 percent chance of being completed, per Next Gen Stats.
Tannehill had to thread the needle on this one, as Hooper was only 1.3 yards away from the nearest defender at the time of completion.
The veteran quarterback’s second-most improbable completion on the day was his 43-yard strike to Treylon Burks at the beginning of the game.
This particular pass traveled approximately 43 yards in the air, only having a 26.4 percent chance of being completed.
Despite that, Burks got behind the defense, called for the ball, tracked the pass in the air, and then completed the reception for a tone-setting big play.
Tannehill and Burks’ suddenly lethal combination not only started the game with a big play, they emphatically ended it with one as well.
The pair connected on a 51-yard pass that was the final nail in the coffin for the Packers’ chances of pulling off some sort of miracle. Burks may not have drawn much separation from cornerback Jaire Alexander, but it didn’t matter.
The first-round wideout caught a beautiful, over-the-shoulder ball from Tannehill that hit him in stride. Burks then dragged Alexander from the 24-yard line all the way to the five-yard line.
This 51-yard pass only had a 24.2 percent chance of being completed, but the Titans quarterback and wide receiver tandem were able to overcome those odds on a day where their connection took a massive step in the right direction.
Tennessee’s defense continues to be unreal
Despite being riddled with injuries, Tennessee’s defense continues to produce at an elite level. Since Week 4, not a single team they’ve faced has scored more than 17 points against this defense in regulation.
Since Week 4, the #Titans haven’t allowed a single offense to score more than 17 points in regulation (excluding overtime):
• 17 (INDY)
• 17 (WSH)
• 10 (INDY)
• 10 (HOU)
• 17 (KC)
• 10 (DEN)
• 17 (GB) pic.twitter.com/6kNLDmvG4O— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) November 18, 2022
The Chiefs added a field goal in overtime to score a total of 20 points, but it even took the NFL’s No. 1 scoring offense nearly five quarters just to get out of the teens.
As far as efficiency goes, Tennessee is literally on an entirely different level than the rest of the league over that span.
According to RBSDM, since Week 4, the Titans’ defense ranks:
- 1st in defensive success rate (38.2 percent)
- 1st in rush EPA (-0.299)
- 1st in rushing success rate (27.3 percent)
- 4th in EPA/play (-0.095)
- 4th in Dropback success rate (42.2 percent)
- 9th in Dropback EPA (-0.021)
*Note: only Tennessee and Green Bay have played Week 11 games thus far*
It should go without saying at this point, but it’s becoming extremely evident that this Titans defense will give this squad a realistic chance to beat anybody in the league as long as it can remain/get healthy for the long haul.
Titans’ pass-catchers continue to take steps in the right direction
One of the Titans’ biggest weaknesses on offense for much of the season has been their pass-catchers’ inability to consistently create separation when running a route.
However, things have started to trend in the right direction as of late.
According to Next Gen Stats, this is the second week in a row where the team had at least four pass-catchers average at least two yards of separation at the time of completion/incompletion.
On Thursday, the following receivers topped at least two yards of separation on their routes run:
- TE Chigoziem Okonkwo (4.95 yards of separation)
- WR Robert Woods (3.07 yards)
- WR Treylon Burks (2.79 yards)
- TE Austin Hooper (2.06 yards)
- WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (2.01 yards)
Unfortunately, we haven’t reached a point where that group is collectively reaching the league average of 2.92 yards of separation
For comparative purposes, the Packers had a total of four pass-catchers that eclipsed three yards of separation on the night.
The most important aspect in all this is the fact that the Titans’ receivers room finally seems to be trending towards being properly positioned and is making progress.
🤌🏽🤌🏽🤌🏽 https://t.co/pBMDr4bqHS
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) November 18, 2022
Despite being a rookie, Burks is clearly the superior talent in that room and deserves to be fed like the No. 1 priority going forward.
That would also allow Woods to resort back to filling the No. 2 role that he thrives in, while Westbrook-Ikhine can focus on being the third or fourth option he’s truly better suited for.
Then you would also have key contributors such as Kyle Philips and Cody Hollister.
Those two can now solely focus on excelling in their specific roles without the team having to overly rely on them when they’re simply not ready or equipped for specific aspects of this offense (ex: asking Hollister to run a vertical route, Philips blocking, etc.).
This group should only continue to make progress as long as this receivers room can continue this trend of being properly positioned going forward.
A lot of that certainly depends on whether or not Burks can continue his rapid maturation as a top wideout, but things certainly took a step in the right direction on Thursday night.
