PFF Grades: Pass Defense Did Its Part

Cornerback Roger McCreary and safety Kevin Byard helped make the secondary the best part of the defense against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Kiyoshi Mio / USA Today Sports

NASHVILLE – It wouldn’t be fair to say the Tennessee Titans throttled Justin Herbert on Sunday.

Herbert did complete 28 of 42 passes for 313 yards. But two interceptions, three sacks and consistent pressure him kept the Los Angeles Chargers quarterback from throwing any touchdown passes. So, it's fair to say the Titans did at least contain the Chargers’ passing attack.

That’s why four of Pro Football Focus’ top five defensive grades for Sunday's performance – a 17-14 loss – went to members of the Titans' secondary.

Here’s the rundown of all the PFF highlights/lowlights from that game:

• Top Five Offensive Grades (at least 15 snaps) – Guard Aaron Brewer led the way with an 83.6 overall grade (more on this below), followed by guard Corey Levin (79.3), guard Nate Davis (74.9), tight end Geoff Swaim (70.9) and center Ben Jones (68.7).

• Top Five Defensive Grades (at least 15 snaps) – Edge rusher Tarell Basham topped the charts at 87.8, followed by cornerback Roger McCreary (86.8), safety Kevin Byard (84.5), safety Josh Kalu (74.3) and cornerback Terrance Mitchell (68.7).

• Battling the blitz – Ryan Tannehill was blitzed on 10 drop-backs and was sacked three times in those situations. When he remained upright against the blitz, the quarterback completed five of seven passes for 41 yards. When Tannehill wasn’t blitzed, he was 10-for-15 for 124 yards and one interception, an NFL quarterback rating of 64.3.

Tannehill threw just one pass of more than 20 yards in the air. Intended for Racey McMath, Chargers safety Nasir Adderley intercepted it.

• Chunk runs – On his way to topping 100 rushing yards for the second straight week, running back Derrick Henry posted four runs of 10-plus yards. He’s had seven carries of 10-plus yards over the past two weeks, which is more than double what he managed in the previous five games combined (three).

Henry gained 63 of his 105 yards after contact against the Chargers, averaging 3.0 yards after contact per carry.

• Mixed review for Radunz – The Titans used Dillon Radunz at left tackle for the first time this season, an experiment that was cut short when he hurt his knee. Radunz was involved in only five run-blocking situations, so his low run-block grade of 44.7 comes from a very small sample. The 2021 second-round draft pick earned an 83.2 pass-block grade and allowed zero pressures in 10 snaps.

• Daley extends lead – Left tackle Dennis Daley surrendered his 12th sack of the season, a total that is at least three more than any other NFL lineman. PFF also attributed one sack each to Brewer and right tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere. Brewer and Daley each allowed three pressures (which includes sacks, quarterback hits and hurries).

Brewer had an unusual day. His 83.6 overall blocking grade and his 89.9 run-blocking grade were both season bests, but his 48.2 pass-block grade marked the ninth time his season he had a pass-block grade below 50.0.

• Hurrying Herbert – After producing a combined four sacks in the previous four games, Tennessee's pass rushers came to life against the Chargers. Defensive linemen DeMarcus Walker (two sacks, two hurries) and Jeffery Simmons (one sack, three hurries) each had four pressures, while edge rushers Bud Dupree (one hit, two hurries) and Rashad Weaver (one hit, two hurries) each had three.

• McCreary’s Best – In addition to the highlight play McCreary made – tipping an out-of-bounds pass back to Kalu for an interception – he recorded his season-best overall grade of 86.8. McCreary didn’t allow a completion on either of the passes thrown in his direction, and he forced an incompletion on one of those throws.

Things did not go as well for defensive back Greg Mabin, who allowed seven completions on nine targets for 116 yards. Herbert posted a quarterback rating of 118.8 when throwing in Mabin’s direction.