Tennessee Titans Defensive Player Grades & Takeaways From Week 1 Loss to New Orleans Saints

The Tennessee Titans lost their first game of the 2023 season to the New Orleans Saints and Pro Football Focus has released their player grades from the contest. Let's take a look at some of the biggest takeaways on defense.

The Tennessee Titans lost to the New Orleans Saints in their first game of the year and as we see each week, Pro Football Focus has released their player grades. Let's take a look at how PFF graded the Titans on the defensive side of the ball.

Top Five Overall Grades

DL Denico Autry - 89.4

LB Jack Gibbens - 88.1

CB Roger McCreary - 79.3

OLB Arden Key - 69.6

S Amani Hooker - 67.0

The Titans' defensive line dominated most of this game. The Saints only touchdown came after a Ryan Tannehill interception gave the Saints the ball in Titans territory. Jeffery Simmons actually has the sixth-highest grade, so that further solidifies that point.

Gibbens may be the biggest surprise. Gibbens had eight tackles on the day and looked to play well, but a grade of 88.1 is in the "elite" range according to PFF. Gibbens had some great moments at the end of the season and could be putting it all together in his second year.

Grades of Note

CB Sean Murphy-Bunting - 46.7 Overall Grade, 53.1 Coverage Grade 

CB Kristian Fulton - 54.0 Overall Grade, 52.8 Coverage Grade

The Titans two outside corners did not play well. They combined to give up six catches for 109 yards and a touchdown. Fulton got burned deep on the Saints' final third down that ended the game and Murphy-Bunting got beat for the game's only touchdown. That won't be good enough against most of the team's the Titans will play. 

Michael Thomas and Chris Olave are fine players, but duos like Mike Williams and Keenan Allen in Los Angeles and Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in Cincinnati await in the coming weeks and they could be an even tougher matchup.

LB Harold Landry - 49.6 Overall Grade

Landry was making his debut after missing the 2022 season with a torn ACL, so it should be expected he would start off slow, but Landry struggled against the Saints. He looked a bit jittery and overran a few plays. The Titans' coaches didn't do him any favors either, putting Landry in space to play in coverage where he registered a 46.6 grade.

Letting Landry ease back into things wasn't the plan apparently. Landry played 88% of the defensive snaps while a reserve like Rashad Weaver, who had 5.5 sacks last season, only played nine snaps. Dropping Landry into coverage less and giving him a few less reps seems like a smarter way to usher him back into the lineup.

Related Titans-Saints Stories

• OFFENSIVE GRADES: The Tennessee Titans lost their first game of the 2023 season to the New Orleans Saints and Pro Football Focus has released their player grades from the contest. Let's take a look at some of the biggest takeaways on offense. CLICK HERE
• GAME STORY: The Titans made it into the red zone often on Sunday, but never scored a touchdown. All those field goals weren't enough in a 16-15 loss to the Saints. Here's Tom Brew's game story. CLICK HERE
• PHOTO GALLERY: Here are the best pictures from Sunday's game between the Titans and Saints. It's a great gallery of 21 photos from Caesers Superdome. CLICK HERE
• DRIVE CHART: The Tennessee Titans opened their 2023 regular season against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday and this is what happened on every offensive drive. CLICK HERE