The Tennessee Titans have finally put one in the win column after beating the Atlanta Falcons in Week 8, 28-23.
The biggest story of the game was no doubt rookie quarterback Will Levis, who shined in his NFL debut. But he didn’t do it all on his own, as running back Derrick Henry broke the century mark and DeAndre Hopkins caught three of Levis’ four touchdown passes, including scores of 47 and 61.
It also helped that Tennessee’s offensive line held up its end of the bargain in one of the better showings the unit has had in pass protection this season.
Now, a look at all of the winners and losers from Tennessee’s Week 8 victory over the Falcons, which moves the Titans to 3-4 on the season and give them some much-needed momentum for the second half of the campaign.
Winner: QB Will Levis
Levis checked all the boxes in his debut. He had total command of the offense, was poised in the pocket, accurate with his throws, including on deep balls, and he didn’t put the ball in harm’s way outside of one pass.
In all, Levis completed 19-of-29 passes for 238 yards and four touchdowns, with three of those scores coming on passes of 30-plus yards.
It was only one game, but Titans fans should be excited about the rookie. Now, Levis has to stack good games to show that he’s legit. That starts on Thursday night in a tough matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense.
Losers: QBs Ryan Tannehill and Malik Willis
With Levis playing the way he did, there’s no way the Titans can go back to Ryan Tannehill if he’s healthy enough to play, whether that be this coming week or in the weeks that follow.
Levis looked as good, if not better than Tannehill has in any game this year and he doubled the veteran signal-caller’s touchdown output in one game.
And, I think it’s safe to say that Malik Willis, who started the season as the No. 2 quarterback, will fall to No. 3 and is unlikely to see a start in 2023, barring injury.
Winner: WR DeAndre Hopkins
Hopkins had his best game as a Titan on Sunday after scoring his first three touchdowns in the two-tone blue and posting 128 yards in total, good enough for the second-most he’s had in a game this season.
Two of Hopkins’ scores were long touchdowns, coming from 47 and 61 yards out, and he added a 16-yard score. There’s no question the veteran was huge for the rookie in Week 8.
In between: Titans' defense
The Titans’ defense was absolutely dominant in the first half, holding the Falcons to just three points thanks to constant pressure and a turnover.
Tennessee finished with six sacks in total. Jeffery Simmons and Harold Landry accounted for two apiece while Jack Gibbens and Denico Autry contributed one each.
However, things came apart in the second half once Taylor Heinicke replaced Desmond Ridder. The pass-rush wasn’t as effective and that allowed Atlanta to exploit Tennessee’s suspect secondary.
It also wasn’t a good day for the run defense once again, as the Titans gave up over 100 yards on the ground for a third-straight game, and the Falcons averaged a robust 5.4 yards per carry.
Thankfully, the defense was able to step up when it mattered most and made a stop with the Falcons driving late with a chance to take the lead.
Winner: Titans' offensive line
Tennessee’s offensive line did exactly what it needed to in order to put Levis in a position to succeed.
Not only was the pass protection fantastic, with Levis only getting sacked twice and facing very little pressure, but the run-blocking was also good, which allowed Tennessee’s run game to take pressure off Levis.
There was a concern when Chris Hubbard was forced to exit early and the Titans decided to move Nicholas Petit-Frere to right tackle and insert Andre Dillard in at left tackle. Thankfully, Dillard didn’t have any major hiccups.
Loser: TE Chig Okonkwo
It didn’t end up impacting the game, but Okonkwo had another brutal drop in this one and continues to be an unreliable target.
Levis looked Chig’s way in the second quarter and would’ve had a long completion into Falcons territory if the second-year tight end held on. Instead, Chig dropped it and the Titans punted three plays later.
Titans fans went from being excited every time the ball was thrown to Chig, to holding their breath when he’s targeted.
Winner: RB Derrick Henry
Henry finally had some room to run and was effective, ripping off 101 yards on 22 carries. The King was also a shoestring tackle away from breaking a big one.
Henry having a good game is always important for the Titans’ offense, but that was even more so the case with a rookie making his NFL debut under center.
Loser: WR Treylon Burks
Burks nearly caught two deep balls down the sideline from Levis but the throw was a bit off on one of them and he wasn’t able to keep his feet in-bounds, and the other saw a Falcons defensive back make a great play.
With the latter play, Burks should’ve been more aggressive and gone up to grab the pass out of the air instead of waiting for it to come down and allowing the DB to make a play on it.
With the Titans needing a receiver to step up as the No. 2, Burks continues to be a non-factor this season and it’s been Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, who scored a touchdown on Sunday, taking the role.
The second-year wideout was held without a catch and has now tallied 18 yards or less in three of the four games he’s played in. Not exactly what we all envisioned going into the season.
Winner: DL Jeffery Simmons
Simmons hadn’t quite looked the same since suffering a shoulder injury versus the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5, but that was no longer the case against the Falcons.
Simmons was dominant on Sunday, especially in the first half. Big Jeff was making an impact on just about every play over the first two quarters and finished with six tackles (two for loss), two sacks and a forced fumble Tennessee recovered.
If the Titans can get more showings like that from Simmons moving forward, it will lift the entire defense just like we saw in Week 8.
Winner: OLB Harold Landry
Landry hasn’t looked like himself this season, which was to be expected with him coming back from a torn ACL. However, perhaps the Boston College product is starting to round into form.
Landry tallied a season-high two sacks on Sunday and would’ve had a third but was flagged for roughing the passer. One of those sacks came on a third-and-5 play in the first quarter that halted a Falcons drive in the red zone following Willis’ fumble.
