We are thankfully just one week away from the end of the Tennessee Titans’ 2023 season after they suffered their 11th loss of the campaign on Sunday to the Houston Texans.
It was once again a sloppy mess for the Titans, filled with self-inflicted wounds and overall poor execution, especially from the offensive line.
As if things couldn’t get any worse, rookie quarterback Will Levis was forced to leave the game early after suffering a foot injury while taking a sack that resulted in a defensive touchdown for Houston.
Now, for the second-to-last time this season, a look at the biggest winners and losers from Tennessee’s latest loss.
Loser: The offensive line
Tennessee’s group upfront allowed six sacks and was terrible in run-blocking, also. Making matters worse, quarterback Will Levis suffered a foot injury after being sacked in the second quarter.
The Titans’ coaching staff should be arrested if it puts Levis behind this terrible offensive line for another snap this season.
In between: The defense
The Titans’ defense was terrible between the 20’s and couldn’t generate much of a pass-rush or stop the run, but held its own in the red zone, something this unit has done well all season long.
Adding to that, the 26 points surrendered are a bit misleading, as Houston scored one defensive touchdown and were bailed out on the team’s lone offensive touchdown drive by a running into the kicker penalty on a punt.
Holding a team to 3-11 on third downs and 1-3 in the red zone should be enough to win a game, but not for the 2023 Titans.
Winner: RB Derrick Henry
Henry had a quiet day overall, but that was no fault of his own thanks to the offensive line playing poorly in the run game. The King did cross the 1,000-yard mark for the season, though, which is a minor miracle considering how badly the offensive line has played.
Henry is the 10th player in NFL history to accumulate five seasons of 1,000 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns.
Loser: WR Treylon Burks
Burks had an opportunity to make a big play early in the game on what was a perfect deep ball from Levis. However, the former first-round pick simply dropped it and the drive eventually stalled out.
It was another reminder that the Titans should expect zero from him in 2024 and desperately need to add a No. 2 receiver behind DeAndre Hopkins.
Winner: WR DeAndre Hopkins
Speaking of Hopkins: he led all Titans pass-catchers with seven catches for 72 yards, and that output put him over 1,000 yards for the season for the seventh time in his career.
Hopkins has been one of the few bright spots for this team in 2023 and the Titans absolutely should bring him back in 2024.
Loser: LT Andre Dillard
For some reason, the Titans decided to trot Dillard out there instead of giving someone else a shot — and it went about as poorly as you’d expect. After giving up back-to-back sacks, Dillard was benched in the second quarter.
There’s no shot in hell Dillard will be on this team in 2024.
Loser: OLB Caleb Murphy
The Texans’ lone offensive touchdown drive of the day shouldn’t have even happened. Houston was punting the ball away in the second quarter but Murphy ran into the punter, which gave Houston a fresh set of downs.
I’ve admittedly been in the “give Caleb Murphy a chance” camp for much of the season, but he didn’t help that cause on Sunday with the boneheaded penalty.
Winner: Titans' draft position
As of this writing, the Titans have moved into the No. 6 spot in the 2024 NFL draft order, according to Tankathon, which is one spot higher than they were last week.
However, Tennessee can fall back to No. 7 if the Los Angeles Chargers lose in the late-afternoon slate. Even still, the loss keeps the Titans in contention for a top-seven pick or higher, which puts them in range to grab a top left tackle.
