Week 3 Power Rankings Roundup: Tennessee Titans Still Flying Under the Radar
The Tennessee Titans are typically a team that goes undetected throughout the NFL season regardless of whether they play well or poorly and not much has changed at the start of 2023. Through two games the Titans have played close with the 2-0 New Orleans Saints on the road and beaten the media-darling Los Angeles Chargers, but their position on the collective power rankings wouldn't indicate it.
NFL.com: Tennessee Titans - 20th
"What they lacked in big or timely plays in the opener, the Titans made up for in Sunday's dramatic OT victory over the Chargers. It was a shorthanded effort, too. Tennessee was without two starting DBs and OG Peter Skoronski, this year's first-round pick, and the team had to replace Skoronski's replacement midgame. Perhaps this classic Mike Vrabel win is a sign of things to come. The Titans trailed by 11 points for 67 seconds of game time against the Chargers; otherwise, every Titans play this season has come in a one-score scenario. They have to win with guile and toughness and via special teams, and they came through in spades on Sunday. So did Ryan Tannehill, whose success should be huge for his confidence and the confidence of everyone else in the passing game. This team can make a run at the Jaguars."
NFL.com's Eric Edholm ranked some peculiar teams over the Tennessee Titans. The New York Jets are just outside the top ten at 11th. After the loss of Aaron Rodgers and a poor performance against the Cowboys, that is quite interesting.
We also see teams like the 0-2 Los Angeles Chargers the Titans just beat and the 1-1 Cleveland Browns who lost their best player on Monday Night Football ahead of the Titans. Rankings are just rankings, but curious to say the least.
ESPN: Tennessee Titans - 22nd
ESPN's rankings are done by a collective group and more people involved resulted in the Titans being even further down the rankings. The Browns, Chargers, Jets and even the Los Angeles Rams are ranked higher.
The Saints are ranked at 10th on the list. The Titans lost by one point on the road to them and beat the Chargers who are listed at 17th. That is tough to compute.
CBS Sports: Tennessee Titans - 14th
"They actually snapped an eight-game losing streak by beating the Chargers in overtime. Ryan Tannehill bounced back in a big way."
Pete Prisco has the Titans at the highest spot of any of power rankings we will look at today and it feels like this is a reasonable position for the Titans at this point. Looking at the list there isn't a team I would put below the Titans and not a team listed below them that I think the Titans would be a sure bet to lose to in their current state.
The Athletic: Tennessee Titans - 17th
"Ryan Tannehill led the NFL in yards per attempt (10.3) in Week 2 just as we all predicted after he looked washed in Week 1. There’s no explaining that stat. There may be an explanation for this next one. Derrick Henry is second in the league in carries with 40, but he’s 35th in yards per carry (3.6). Henry has been carrying a heavy load for seven-plus seasons, and his lowest yards per carry in those seasons was 4.2."
Josh Kendall has the Los Angeles Rams in the top ten of his rankings. I would not have them over the Titans in any capacity. Outside of the Rams, teams like the Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions could be debated, but I don't think Kendall put the Titans in an outrageous spot.
Bleacher Report: Tennessee Titans - 20th
"Many of the stats between the two teams were nearly identical, whether it was total plays or total yards. But the Titans defense made plays when it needed to, allowing just two third-down conversions on 14 tries and sacking Justin Herbert three times. In an AFC South without a clear front-runner, this was a big win for the Titans. The question now is whether they can continue building momentum next week against a Cleveland Browns team that struggled against the run in 2022."
A group puts together the power rankings for Bleacher Report and apparently the more people involved in the rankings, the lower the Titans go. The Browns and Rams are again ahead of the Titans and even the New York Giants got ranked higher. It would be difficult to see the Titans losing to the Giants at this stage, but in fairness there is a lot of season left.
At the end of the day, power rankings don't mean much, but it is fun to check in with where the Titans rank at throughout the year. We will be doing it each week here at AllTitans.com.
Related Titans-Chargers Stories
- KELLY'S CREATIVE OFFENSE: The Tennessee Titans new offensive coordinator Tim Kelly has been tremendous through the first two weeks of the season and his ability to create big plays and get the Titans points was on display against the Los Angeles Chargers. CLICK HERE
- MIKE VRABEL ADVANTAGE: The Tennessee Titans head coach is often considered one of the best in the NFL and Sunday's overtime win over the Los Angeles Chargers was a great example of Mike Vrabel's value. CLICK HERE
- BROWNS BANGED UP: The Tennessee Titans play the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, and they are catching them at the right time. The Browns had to play on Monday night — they lost at Pittsburgh — and also lost star running back Nick Chubb for the season with a gruesome knee injury. CLICK HERE
