By The Numbers: Titans at Mid-Season

Derrick Henry had a really long run, opposing offenses have had plenty of good runs and more statistics that tell the story of the season to date.

NASHVILLE – The number that matters most is six.

That is how many games the Tennessee Titans have won through the first half of the 2020 season. At 6-2, they have a one-game lead in the AFC South and are fourth in the conference standings. They are also two games ahead of where they were at this point last season.

“We still can’t get caught up in being 6-2, which is great,” safety Kevin Byard said. “At the end of the day, we have to just take it one week at a time and just focus on the opponent we have in front of us.”

With half the season still to come and half completed, here is a look back at some other numbers that tell the story of the Titans’ first eight games:

• 4 – Fourth-down conversions by the offense on five attempts. The Titans finished last season with four (on 11 attempts). Their current 80 percent efficiency is tied for third best in the NFL behind Buffalo (100 percent) and Cincinnati (92.3 percent). Three of the successful fourth-down conversions have come in victories (Denver, Minnesota and Buffalo).

• 5.7 – yards per play allowed by the defense. That is on pace for the second highest of the Titans era. The only time opposing offenses averaged more per play was 2004. That year, the defense allowed an average of 5.9 yards per play and Tennessee finished 5-11.

• 6 – touchdown receptions by wide receiver A.J. Brown and tight end Jonnu Smith. That is already two shy of Brown’s team-leading total from 2019 and a career-high for Smith (he had six in the previous two seasons combined). It also makes the Titans one of three teams (Kansas City and Seattle are the others) with multiple players who have six or more touchdown receptions.

• 7 – missed field goals, all by kicker Stephen Gostkowski who is 11-for-18 on the season (61.1 percent). That is the most by any team in the NFL and easily on track for the worst percentage of Gostkowski’s career. Detroit and Buffalo are tied for second with six misses each. Of course, it’s still an improvement from last year, when four Titans kickers combined to go 8-for-18.

• 14 – takeaways by Tennessee’s defense (nine interceptions, five fumble recoveries). That is tied for fourth in the league behind Tampa Bay (16), Pittsburgh (15) and the New York Giants (15). However, the offense has turned it over just four times, and the Titans lead the league with a plus-10 turnover ratio. Kansas City is second at plus-8.

• 17 – touchdowns by the offense on 18 goal-to-go situations. That means the offense has crossed the goal line 94.4 percent of the time when it has gotten a first down inside the 10-yard line. The one exception was an interception on the opening drive at Cincinnati after the offense had a first-and-goal at the 8. Of course, that ended up as one of the Titans’ defeats.

• 19 – touchdown passes by Ryan Tannehill, who has thrown multiple touchdown passes in every game but one. That’s already more than the Titans had in seven of the previous 14 seasons. In 2008, the last time the franchise started 4-0, the offense finished with 13 touchdown passes. In 2017, their final season under coach Mike Mularkey, they finished with 14, and in 2018, the first season under Vrabel, they finished with 16.

• 65 – tackles by inside linebacker Jayon Brown, which leads the team. He has 12 more than cornerback Malcolm Butler, who is second. No one else on the team has 50 or more. Brown has led the Titans or shared the team lead in tackles five times, including each of the last four games, but tackles only tell part of the story when it comes to how well he has played (in a contract year, by the way). Brown also is the only member of the defense with at least one forced fumble (two), a sack (one) and an interception (one).

• 66 – different players have appeared in at least one game so far. Five -- defensive back Desmond King, defensive lineman Teair Tart, outside linebacker Wyatt Ray, punter Ryan Allen and long snapper Matt Overton --  made their Titans’ debuts in Sunday’s victory against Chicago. The number is likely to grow this week with the addition to the active roster of recently acquired long snapper Matt Orzech. In 2019, 69 different players suited up for Tennessee in the 16 regular-season games.

• 94 – yards, Derrick Henry’s fourth-quarter touchdown run against Houston in Week 6. That is the longest run by any player this season – by a wide margin. Green bay’s Aaron Jones is second with a 75-yard run, and Philadelphia’s Miles Sanders is third with a 74-yard run. Henry, however, is second to Minnesota’s Dalvin Cook with 858 total yards.