With all the negative surrounding the Tennessee Titans as their season ended on Saturday night, we thought we’d bring you some positive from what was no doubt an incredibly disappointing and frustrating season overall.
The Titans had few bright spots in 2022, and even fewer of those bright spots managed to shine the entire season.
But that was not the case for Tennessee’s run defense, which finished as the league’s best unit, giving up 76.9 rushing yards per contest. That mark is second-best for a single season in franchise history, and the best since 1960.
The Titans trailed the San Francisco 49ers much of the season, but were able to pass them in Week 18. This is the second consecutive year in which the Titans sported an elite run defense after finishing with the No. 2 unit in 2021.
The #Titans, who entered the week ranked 2nd in the NFL in run defense, finished the year allowing an average of 76.9 rush yards per contest (1,307 yards/390 attempts). That's the 2nd-best finish in franchise history and the best since the organization’s inaugural season in 1960.
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) January 8, 2023
Making this effort more impressive is the fact that the Titans were riddled with injuries all throughout the front-seven in 2022.
Before the Titans can recreate their success in 2023, they’ll have decisions to make on some key players who contributed to these back-to-back elite run defenses.
Guys like David Long and Teair Tart are free agents, and Zach Cunningham and Bud Dupree will likely get cut. Jeffery Simmons and Denico Autry are under contract for 2023, but Simmons might want an extension before stepping on the field and Autry deserves a raise if he looks for one.
