Packer Central

Jordan Love or Malik Willis Will Face Elite Titans Pass Defense

New Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson has assembled one of the best pass defenses in the NFL. That group will test the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.

Bill Huber

Tennessee Titans cornerback L'Jarius Sneed will face the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
Tennessee Titans cornerback L'Jarius Sneed will face the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – Will Jordan Love be the Green Bay Packers’ starting quarterback at the Tennessee Titans on Sunday? Or will it be Malik Willis?

Whoever it is, he’ll be challenged against the Titans’ NFL-best pass defense.

“They got a lot of veteran players and they’re a well-built defense,” said Packers coach Matt LaFleur, who will be the architect for whatever game plan is used for whatever quarterback is in the game. “I think schematically it’s a challenge.”

The operator of that scheme is the team’s new defensive coordinator, Dennard Wilson. LaFleur knows all about Wilson. When he was looking to replace Joe Barry this offseason, he interviewed Wilson before picking Jeff Hafley.

“He’s an experienced guy in this league,” LaFleur said. “And then when you couple that with really good players, you have a chance to be a really good defense. And they do all the little things the right way in terms of the effort and physicality that they play with. So, we’ve got our work cut out for us this week.”

That’s especially true through the air.

After games against Chicago Bears rookie Caleb Williams and New York Jets legend Aaron Rodgers, the Titans are No. 1 in passing yards allowed per game and No. 2 in passing yards allowed per play.

It’s obviously very early in the season, but here’s the before and after for the Titans:

Passing yards allowed per game – 2024: first, 114.0; 2023: 18th, 227.4.

Passing yards allowed per attempt – 2024: second, 3.86. 2023: 23rd, 6.77.

Opponent passer rating – 2024: 11th, 77.6. 2023: 27th, 96.4.

Opponent completion percentage – 2024: second, 54.4. 2023: 29th, 67.8.

“I was with Dennard and the Jets,” Packers passing game coordinator Jason Vrable said, thinking back to 2017 and 2018, when Wilson was defensive backs coach and Vrable was an offensive assistant.

“We went against each other every day for the two years we were there. They went and signed some vets who know how to play. But he challenges. I think some teams will play off and soft or this and that. The last game vs. the Jets, they got their hands on (and) they didn’t give up a lot of easy ones.”

Along with Wilson, the Titans upgraded the secondary.

First, they sent third- and seventh-round draft picks to the Chiefs for cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, who had 10 interceptions in four seasons in Kansas City. He followed Jets star Garrett Wilson for much of last week’s game.

“He’s a pit bull,” Wilson told reporters in Nashville this week.

Next, they signed veteran starter Chidobe Awuzie away from the Bengals. Finally, early in training camp, they signed veteran safety Quandre Diggs, who was a Pro Bowler for the Seahawks in 2020, 2021 and 2022 after intercepting 14 passes during those seasons.

“They definitely got something good going on there,” receiver Christian Watson said, “but I think we’ve got a system that can find ways to find those holes and make plays. Obviously, we’ll watch the tape and study them up.

“We’re definitely going to give them their respect in terms of what they’ve done so far, but I think we’re going to be able to go out there and make plays.”

Along with standout nickel Roger McCreary, who already has four tackles for losses, Wilson has a quality secondary to stop Love or Willis.

“We got to prepare for both quarterbacks,” Wilson said. “Obviously, Love, he’s a hell of a quarterback in this league. He played tremendous football last year and, even the first week, he was playing his tail off. So, you have to prepare for him being out there (and) the way they pass the ball, spread it around.

“You got to prepare for Malik. Last week, they came out and they ran the ball 50 times. So, we’ll be ready for both in terms of our game plan. And whoever comes out there, we’ll go out there and we’ll compete to the best of our ability.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.