The Tennessee Titans will visit the Cleveland Browns on Sunday for a Week 3 matchup that features two teams looking for their second win of the year.
After a putrid showing from the offense in Week 1, the Titans rebounded in a big way with a thrilling 27-24 overtime win against the Los Angeles Chargers that saw a vast improvement from quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
Buy Titans TicketsThe Browns started their season in the opposite way with an impressive 24-3 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1 before dropping their Week 2 contest to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 26-22, on Monday night.
Here are eight things to know about the upcoming matchup between Tennessee and Cleveland.
Head-to-head history
This will be the 69th meeting between these franchises in a history that dates all the way back to 1970. 67 of those meetings have come in the regular season, along with one in the playoffs (Oilers beat Browns in 1988, 24-23).
The Titans and Browns last met in 2020 in Nashville, when Cleveland emerged with a 41-35 win after staking itself to a 38-7 halftime lead.
The last time these teams met in Cleveland, the Titans smoked the highly-touted Browns in Week 1 of the 2019 season, 43-13, and Logan Ryan was doused with beer by a fan in the process.
In all, the Titans/Oilers are 32-36 (including playoffs) against the Browns.
Browns are favored
According to BetMGM, the Browns are favored by 3.5 points over the visiting Titans, a spread that has remained the same since the start of the week. The over/under sits at 39.5, which is down from 41.5.
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Vrabel-led Titans have struggled vs. AFC North
This stat comes from Paul Kuharsky: not including playoffs, the Mike Vrabel-led Titans are 2-6 against the AFC North. Meanwhile, the Kevin Stefanski-led Browns are a perfect 6-0 versus the AFC South.
Kevin Stefanski is 6-0 vs. the AFC South, including 1-0 vs. #Titans.
Mike Vrabel is 2-6 vs. the AFC North, including 1-1 vs. the #Browns.
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) September 20, 2023
Nick Chubb out for season
The Browns lost their best offensive player and one of the best backs in the NFL in Nick Chubb on Monday night after he suffered a season-ending knee injury. We wish him a speedy recovery.
Cleveland will try to fill the void the best they can with second-year back Jerome Ford and recently-signed Kareem Hunt, although it remains to be seen if Hunt will be ready to go as quickly as Week 3. Pierre Strong is another back who figures to get some work.
Old friends
The Titans would have been facing two old friends in this game but right tackle Jack Conklin unfortunately suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 1. As is the case with Chubb, we wish him a speedy recovery.
Another old friend is Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, who was most recently a senior defensive assistant with the Titans but has held multiple jobs with the franchise, including defensive coordinator.
There will always be varying opinions on just how much of an impact Schwartz had, but Tennessee’s defense saw marked improvement after bringing him in prior to the 2021 campaign.
The Titans went from giving up 27.4 points per contest in 2020 to 20.8 in 2021 and 21.2 in 2022. Adding to that, the run defense ranked second and first the past two seasons, respectively, and the pass-rush and play of the defensive front as a whole was night and day.
Granted, the pass defense has been atrocious, but that had more to do with injuries than anything else.
On the Titans’ sideline, right tackle Chris Hubbard will be facing his former team. Hubbard played for the Browns from 2018-22 and had plenty of practice reps against Myles Garrett, something he talked about recently.
Good news, bad news for Titans starters
The Titans received some good news on defense on Wednesday, as both safety Amani Hooker (concussion) and cornerback Kristian Fulton (hamstring) logged full practices after not playing last week.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, head coach Mike Vrabel revealed that left guard Peter Skoronski would not play in Week 3 after undergoing an appendectomy last week.
He’ll likely be replaced by Dillon Radunz once again. Radunz gave up three pressures but no sacks after coming in for Xavier Newman, who was initially starting in Skoronski’s spot before being pulled for poor play.
Elite run defenses, very different pass defenses
Don’t expect a ton of production on the ground from either team in this game. Tennessee and Cleveland are tied for the third-best run defense in the NFL at 65 rushing yards allowed per game.
The Titans have sported an elite run defense in each of the past two seasons, finishing second and first in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The Browns had the eighth-worst run defense in 2022, so their impressive start has less credibility than Tennessee’s.
The Browns are currently tied for the second-best pass defense, giving up just 133.5 passing yards per game. Meanwhile, the Titans have the fifth-worst, coming in at 281.5 passing yards per game.
Expect some sacks
The Titans have given up eight sacks and the Browns have surrendered nine, which is tied for seventh and fifth, respectively. Tennessee’s defense has seven sacks (tied for eighth) to Cleveland’s four (tied for 19th).
Neither team’s offensive line can be totally blamed for those sacks allowed numbers, though, as quarterbacks Ryan Tannehill and Deshaun Watson tend to hold on to the ball for too long.
And that appears to be especially true in Cleveland’s case, with the Browns’ offensive line sporting the No. 3 pass-block win rate (71%) in the NFL. The Titans currently rank 16th (57%) in that category.
Tennessee sports one of the best defensive fronts in the NFL that is loaded with talented pass-rushers like Jeffery Simmons, Arden Key, Denico Autry and Harold Landry.
Cleveland’s front isn’t too shabby, either, and is led by Myles Garrett, who is one of the best in the business. Garrett has just one sack over two games, so he’s due for a multi-sack performance.
