Sunday was an incredible day for the Tennessee Titans’ franchise. On top of getting their third victory on the year, the Titans got to wear the throwback uniforms that many have been yearning for and rookie quarterback Will Levis looked like a poised veteran in his very first game.
Tennessee ended up beating the Atlanta Falcons by a score of 28-23 in a game that felt much more lopsided than the scoreboard would indicate.
The Falcons did make a valiant comeback attempt in the second half, but the Titans’ suddenly high-powered offense was too much for Atlanta to overcome.
It definitely wasn’t perfect, but this was a fantastic example of what this team can be when things are rolling.
Tennessee will now be tasked with trying to prove that Week 8 wasn’t some fluke. For now, it’s time to reflect on how each position group did on what was a pretty strong game in all three phases.
Quarterbacks: A+
This grade is all Levis, even though Malik Willis should technically be part of it as well.
The Kentucky product had a sensational NFL debut, throwing for four touchdowns, three of which traveled over 50 yards in air distance. That happens to be the most in a game in the Next Gen Stats era.
In his first career start, Will Levis threw 3 of the 10 longest touchdown passes by air distance this season.
🔹 47-yard TD to D. Hopkins: 56.1 yards (4th)
🔹 33-yard TD to N. Westbrook-Ikhine: 55.2 yards (5th)
🔹 61-yard TD to D. Hopkins: 51.7 yards (8th)Powered by @awscloud pic.twitter.com/goNMVDsw9X
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) October 29, 2023
Prior to yesterday, Tennessee had zero deep touchdown passes on the year.
Adding to his stats, Levis looked the part of an NFL quarterback and was better than Tennessee could’ve hoped for.
There’s no telling if this type of performance will become the norm or if it was just an anomaly, but for now, Levis deserves all the praise in the world for what he did on Sunday.
Running backs: A
Derrick Henry and Tyjae Spears had another strong performance, combining for 158 total yards on the day, 122 of which came from Henry alone.
It felt like the King was always close to breaking a big one in this one. Sadly, that never came to fruition. Regardless, the strong day out of the backfield deserves a strong grade.
Wide receivers: A
This grade is a result of the dominating performance by DeAndre Hopkins, who tallied four catches for 128 yards and three touchdowns.
DeAndre Hopkins notched 3 touchdowns for the second time in his career 🔥
The last time he had 3 touchdowns was in 2017 👀 pic.twitter.com/t6qcU5xDMc
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 29, 2023
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine added a fourth touchdown reception of 33 yards. In total, the receivers room combined for a total of 185 yards on the day.
Tight ends: C
I’ll have to watch the All-22 tape to see how the run-blocking was from this group, and that could either raise or lower the grade depending on how that goes.
With that said, Chig Okonkwo dropped a wide-open catch that would’ve led to a big play.
The Maryland product has struggled this year with making routine catches and it’s something he needs to fix going forward if he wants to turn his season around..
Aside from that, Okonkwo had four catches for 23 yards and a carry for four yards. One of those catches and the carry moved the chains.
Offensive line: B+
Things could’ve gone badly after right tackle Chris Hubbard got injured and Andre Dillard came into the game at left tackle and Nicholas Petit-Frere slid over to the right side.
Instead, the offensive line completed what was arguably its best game of the season when you combine pass protection and run-blocking. Levis wasn’t pressured much and was only sacked twice, and Henry had room to run.
Peter Skoronski, in particular, caught my eye a few times with his impressive pass protection, but similarly to the tight ends, I’ll have to watch the All-22 to truly see if this grade is accurate. In the meantime, I think a “B+” is more than fair enough.
Defensive line: A-
The Titans’ defensive line got after a Falcons offensive line that was ranked No. 3 by Pro Football Focus heading into the weekend.
Tennessee totaled six sacks and one forced fumble. Jeffery Simmons was back to looking like his impressive self with six tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss, two quarterback hits and one forced fumble.
Jeffery Simmons’ shoulder doesn’t appear to be bothering him anymore. He’s dominating right now#Titans
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels98) October 29, 2023
The group did slow down as the game went on, and for that reason, I had to slightly drop their grade.
Outside linebackers: B+
It took seven games but we finally got a glimpse of the old Harold Landry.
The Boston College product recorded five tackles and two sacks on the day, with a third getting called back because of a penalty. Denico Autry added a sack of his own, while Arden Key had a few nice rushes where he hurried the quarterback.
This was a strong day for a group that had been quiet of late. Hopefully, this will become the norm going forward.
Inside linebackers: B
The Titans’ inside linebacker tandem of Azeez Al-Shaair and Jack Gibbens continues to impress in the middle of the defense. They aren’t an elite duo by any means, but they seem to get the job done more often than not. Al-Shaair and Dr. Gibby combined for 16 tackles and one sack on the day.
Cornerbacks: C+
Kristian Fulton has caught a lot of heat this season for his underwhelming play through the first six games. But if we’re going to criticize his poor play, then we need to point out when he plays well.
Fulton had a strong day in his own right, recording eight tackles and one pass defensed. Meanwhile, Sean Murphy-Bunting continues to be a steady presence along the boundary.
Eric Garror also played well in the nickel role, although he was picked on a few times. Nonetheless, he did well given the circumstances of this being his first action on defense in his rookie season.
I do have to knock the group’s overall grade down because the tackling on the backend was horrendous on occasion. Still, it was a good showing from this group, even with that negative.
Safeties: B-
After trading Kevin Byard to the Eagles, a lot of fans were curious to see how Tennessee would hold up at safety. After one game, the results were promising.
Elijah Molden and Amani Hooker did a solid job filling the void of Byard’s absence. New safeties Terrell Edmunds and K’Von Wallace combined for three tackles, also.
Specialists: A
Probably the most disappointing part of the day was the fact that Nick Folk never got the opportunity to break the NFL record for most consecutive field goals under 40 yards.
Folk did remain perfect on his extra points, though, while Ryan Stonehouse continues to be a real weapon for this football team with his ability to flip the field.
