Tennessee Titans Game Balls: Week 1

Each week we will give an offensive and defensive “Game Ball” to the Tennessee Titans players who impressed most in the previous game.

This is, admittedly, a rough week to start up the game ball tradition. In a game where the Tennessee Titans struggled to score points or slow down the Oakland Raiders offense, there aren’t many standout players to choose from. But someone’s gotta get a game ball! So here we go…

Offense – Delanie Walker

With all the shiny new toys on offense, people seemed to forget what an integral part of the offense Delanie Walker is. He had 7 catches for 76 yards on Sunday, five of which went for first downs. He also had an excellent block on safety Reggie Nelson that allowed Marcus Mariota to glide in for the team’s only touchdown for the day.

While many of the wide receivers looked lost, the run game floundered and Mariota struggled to find a rhythm, Walker was a definite bright spot. He is critical to both the pass and run game, and (along with Rishard Matthews) is an obvious safety net for Mariota. I doubt this will be his only game ball of the season.

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Honorable Mentions: Rishard Matthews, Taylor Lewan

Defense – Wesley Woodyard

This was tough; there simply weren’t many defensive players who played exceptionally well yesterday. Usual standouts Jurrell Casey and Brian Orakpo were quiet all game. And while Derrick Morgan had a sack, it was just one of two tackles and came against the backup right tackle. So, I settled on Wes Woodyard. He had the first sack of the season (granted, it was more a result of the play design than his own personal effort) and recorded five tackles and three assists.

I realize I’m giving a game ball to someone who had a sack drawn up for him and five tackles as his stat line, but hey, I wasn’t given a lot to work with! I briefly considered giving it to Adoree’ Jackson for how he bounced back against Amari Cooper, but that first drive was too rough to overlook. Let’s hope there are more worthy candidates next week against Jacksonville.

Honorable Mention: Derrick Morgan

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