Three positives for the Tennessee Titans in Week 1

It wasn’t all bad for the Tennessee Titans

To say that the Tennessee Titans kicked off their season with a disappointment is a major understatement, as they fell to the lowly New York Giants 21-20 on their home field. Not only did they lose, but they blew a 13-0 halftime lead, only magnifying the disastrous result.

For a team coming off of an offseason where they had to trade their star wide receiver in a brutal breakup, just saw their best edge rusher tear the ACL just days before the season, and has a quarterback who is on thin ice as far as his job security beyond 2022, it looks like they could be in for a long and rough season.

There is absolutely no way that the Titans should have lost this game, nor should they have put themselves in a position where they had to win it on a last-second field goal. They are in a lot of trouble at the moment, and changes need to be made if they still want to have a chance to compete this year.

Tennessee Titans still did good things in Week 1 that must be replicated

At this point, the reasons why the Tennessee Titans fell to the Giants have been well documented. First and foremost, Todd Downing once again proved to be out of his element as offensive coordinator and made many critical mistakes that killed the team.

And for a team that was so stout against the run last year, they had absolutely no answers for Saquon Barkley, as he rushed 18 times for 164 yards, a touchdown, and the two-point conversion that ultimately won the game for the Giants. Particularly around the edges, there was nothing the Titans could do to keep Barkley in check.

But as we have learned by now, football is a complex game, and for all the bad things that happen, there are good things that happen in close games like the Titans played on Sunday. It was a brutal loss, but it was only Week 1, and there is still plenty of time for them to correct the bad things and build on the good that happened.

Let’s give everyone a chance to feel better and dive into three things that did and should continue to give the Titans a chance to win as the season progresses.

QB1 had a consistently solid outing

When the Titans and their offense have had bad games within the past year, Ryan Tannehill has been blamed for them, and much of the time deservedly so. That was not the case on Sunday.

Not only did Tannehill play a good game, but he was the best player on offense and repeatedly gave the Titans a chance to win. Just on the surface, his stat line was right around where you would want him to be, as he passed for 266 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and had a 106.4 passer rating.

The stats are not lying either, as he had some really good throws, and there was no play he made that you could actually say was a stupid one. In particular, this throw to Kyle Philips in the dying seconds when the Titans needed it the most was right on the money.

It was not even just that one, as Tannehill was making precise throws into tight windows throughout the day.

Another play that really stood out was when the Titans had a third and long in the second quarter, and Tannehill had pressure coming his way. Not only did he avoid taking the sack, but he stayed calm, rolled out while surveying the field, saw an open lane, and took off running for the first down. Those smart decisions that extend plays are what we want and need to see from him moving forward.

Keep in mind that Tannehill did all of this with Kyle Philips and Treylon Burks each essentially playing half the game in favor of guys like Geoff Swaim and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. The guy that caught both touchdowns, Dontrell Hilliard, too was heavily limited and only played eleven snaps.

And despite Downing and the Titans not wanting to pass on first down, Tannehill’s performance on first down was admirable.

It is clear that number 17 did everything he could to elevate the team, he just is not responsible for bad play-calling and awful personnel decisions by Downing and to a lesser extent, Mike Vrabel. If the Titans would have actually maximized Tannehill’s chances of succeeding, who knows what the narrative would have been about him following the game.

Rookie receivers showed they belong

Undoubtedly the big story of the Titans’ offseason was trading AJ Brown and drafting Treylon Burks to fill his void. This was a stunning move and one that was destined to doom the team and their chances of doing damage in this league.

After the first game, maybe this will not be a problem like everyone thought it would. He and Kyle Philips showed out, and even though their base stats — three receptions for 55 yards and 6 receptions for 66 yards respectively — do not blow your mind, again realize that they did that on a highly limited snap count.

And when you dig deeper, it is easy to see just how much they maximized their opportunities. Burks led all NFL receivers in average yards after the catch, and whatever conditioning issues he had at OTA’s seem to not matter at all now because he had no problem creating separation on Sunday.

Despite being a fifth-rounder, Philips had hype coming into the season after training camp and proved it, starting the game off with an electric punt return and showing his ability to get open for Tannehill. The two of them have built some nice chemistry, as evidenced by the play that got the Titans into field goal range on Sunday.

In fact, Philips and Burks have a chance to be some of the better rookie receivers, as they were second and third respectively in receiving yards among the 2022 draft class in Week 1. And again, that was with both of them essentially playing only half of a game.

Of the many problems on this Titans team, lack of playmakers and explosiveness is not one of them, as many thought going into the year and might still think. The real issue is that the playmakers are not being used enough, which figures to change as the season goes on, but is still a very big problem right now.

The pass rush will be fine without Harold Landry

The Tennessee Titans’ success last year was predicated on their pass rush, and when they lost their sack leader in Harold Landry for the year, it was almost considered to be the final nail in the coffin for a team expected to take a step back this season. Fortunately, they have a lot of depth on the defensive line, and even if they continue to struggle as a whole, their pass rush will not be a reason why.

This is mainly due to Jeffery Simmons, who is continuing to blossom into one of the best game changers in the league. He is one of the biggest disruptors of the line of scrimmage in football, and as long as he is on the field, the Titans’ defensive front must be feared because with or without Landry, he is the one that commands the most respect and attention from opposing teams.

He once again proved why on Sunday, as he had two sacks and a forced fumble that was recovered by Bud Dupree. The strip-sack in particular was a thing of beauty, as he absolutely blew by the offensive line, and creating turnovers as opposed to just racking up sacks was a huge point of emphasis for the Titans coming into the season.

Even though the Titans did not stop the run in the slightest on Sunday, Simmons had another play in which he blew up the line of scrimmage and dropped Barkley in the backfield for a loss. He is truly a freak of nature, and he keeps proving that the Giants made a bad decision selecting Dexter Lawrence the pick right before him.

It’s not like the rest of the defensive front has slouches, as Dupree had a sack and a forced fumble, which the Titans desperately need with his huge contract and the loss of Landry. Denico Autry had a rough day, but considering it was Week 1 and he missed most of training camp with an injury, there is no need to freak out with him this past week.

Another big story though, and one that should excite Titans fans, is Rashad Weaver’s performance. Like the rookie receivers, he did not play a ton, but maximized his opportunity and recorded two sacks, one of which he read the read option perfectly and dropped Daniel Jones in the backfield.

The Titans have shown that they can overcome big injuries like Landry’s, and it helps when you consider what they have behind him. As long as they do not suffer another significant injury, their pass rush will be just fine.