The Tennessee Titans notched their fourth win of the season — and their first in a month — in a 17-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers in Week 12 at Nissan Stadium.
The Titans remain unbeaten at their home stadium this season, but unlike their previous three wins, the offense struggled mightily, led by an uneven performance from rookie quarterback Will Levis, who was impressive for two quarters before struggling in the second half.
But Tennessee’s defense really came to play on Sunday, which proved to be the difference.
Outside of some bad penalties that aided both of Carolina’s scoring drives, the unit put the clamps on rookie signal-caller Bryce Young and Co., both on the ground and through the air.
Now, a look at who made this week’s winners and losers article following the victory over Carolina.
In between: QB Will Levis
It was a tale of two halves for Levis, who was sharp in the first half before struggling in the second.
Levis’ best series of the game came on the Titans’ first scoring drive in which he connected on some impressive throws. The rookie was also sharp on the final drive of the first half, which set Tennessee up for a field goal.
But the second half was a different story. Levis was inaccurate on several throws and put the ball in harm’s way on multiple occasions.
As much as Levis has flashed, this was a reminder that he’s still a rookie and has a ways to go before solidifying himself in this league.
Winner: Jaelyn Duncan
Duncan definitely had some hiccups, but I’m not sure we could have hoped for much better than what he showed in his first career start at left tackle.
The Maryland product nearly allowed two sacks, but thankfully Levis was able to get the ball out fast enough to avoid them. He also committed a false start penalty.
However, the rookie more than held his own throughout the contest. At the very least, he did enough to earn another start at left tackle next week.
In between: The secondary
Falling in the “in between” category is actually a major step up for the secondary.
On the bright side, the Panthers threw for less than 200 yards on the day and only had two completions of 20-plus yards. Also, the unit held Carolina’s No. 1 receiver, Adam Thielen, to just one catch for two yards.
However, both Kristian Fulton and Sean Murphy-Bunting had multiple bad penalties that helped extend Carolina drives, including the two in which the Panthers scored points. Fulton also struggled in coverage.
Winner: DL Jeffery Simmons
Simmons played well throughout the game, but he really made his presence felt in the second half with a sack and multiple tackles for loss. In all, Big Jeff finished with five tackles, the sack, three tackles for loss and he recovered a key fumble in the first half.
Winner: DL Denico Autry
Autry had a team-high two sacks and added another tackle for loss on a great play to stuff the Panthers on the ground in the first half. The veteran tallied two sacks and all three of his tackles went for a loss.
Winner: RB Derrick Henry
Henry didn’t have much room to run in the first half, but he did find the end zone twice. The King also had an 18-yard scamper in the fourth quarter that helped the Titans close the game out.
Ultimately, Henry finished with 18 carries for 76 yards and two scores. He also became the 39th player in NFL history to break 9,000 career rushing yards.
Winner: OLB Arden Key
Key had arguably the biggest play of the game in the first half when he notched a strip sack on quarterback Bryce Young that resulted in a fumble recovery for Tennessee, which the team then turned into six. It was his first sack since Week 4. Key finished with two tackles, the sack and two QB hits.
Winner: P Ryan Stonehouse
During a game in which the Titans’ offense struggled, Stonehouse’s ability to flip the field was huge.
Stonehouse averaged 53.7 yards per punt and dropped five inside the 20, including a 71-yard bomb the Titans downed at the Panthers’ four-yard line.
