Tennessee Titans Defensive Player Grades & Takeaways From Week 3 Loss To Cleveland Browns

The Tennessee Titans offense normally has it's struggles, but it was a bit of a surprise to see the Titans' defense also struggle on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. Here are the top five overall grades and some standout grades from the defensive side of the ball.
Tennessee Titans Defensive Player Grades & Takeaways From Week 3 Loss To Cleveland Browns
Tennessee Titans Defensive Player Grades & Takeaways From Week 3 Loss To Cleveland Browns /
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The Tennessee Titans defensive unit had their worst game of the season on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns and not just because it was the most points they have surrendered, 27, but because of the mental errors and lack of physicality.

The Titans blew coverages and missed tackles throughout the day and those letdowns were reflected in the players grades on the defensive side of the ball in Week 3 from Pro Football Focus.

Overall Top Five Grades

CB Sean Murphy-Bunting - 91.3

S Kevin Byard - 72.2

LB Jack Gibbens - 72.1

DT Teair Tart - 71.6

S Elijah Molden - 70.3

For a second week in a row corner Sean Murphy-Bunting leads the way with the top grade. Murphy-Bunting has been the one of the positive standouts on the defense. He created a fantastic turnover in the first quarter against the Browns and has been not only reliable in coverage, but has helped out his teammates.

The rest of the top five really hammers home the issues the Titans had in Week 3. Kristian Fulton got attacked while the rest of the coverage did a decent job. Tart held up well in run defense and the Titans only allowed 78 yards on the ground. 

Standout Grades

CB Kristian Fulton - 38.3 Overall Grade

Fulton was targeted four times, gave up four completions, 95 receiving yards and a touchdown. The Browns were unlucky when an Amari Cooper catch and run was ruled out of bounds incorrectly or there would be another 50 yards and a touchdown added on to those totals. Fulton has been a liability in the two weeks he has played.

DT Jeffery Simmons - 25.3 Tackling Grade

OLB Rashad Weaver - 26.1 Tackling Grade

OLB Arden Key - 28.0 Tackling Grade

The biggest issues from the Titans' defense yesterday were the missed sacks on Deshaun Watson. Simmons and Key both missed one, but there were also missed tackles throughout the game. PFF has the Titans with 14 missed tackles, that's seven more than they were charted with in Week 2. That sort of lack of physicality is something you don't normally see from a Mike Vrabel team.

Related stories on Titans-Browns

  • WEEK 3 SNAP COUNTS: The Tennessee Titans took a Week 3 loss to the Cleveland Browns in embarrassing fashion and here is how the snaps were distributed on offense and defense during the beatdown. CLICK HERE
  • WEEK 3 OFFENSIVE GRADES: The Tennessee Titans offense got beatdown by the Cleveland Browns defense on Sunday, so it is no surprise that Titans had low marks on the offensive player grades from PFF in Week 3. CLICK HERE
  • DRIVE CHART: The Tennessee Titans offense faced a tough Cleveland Browns defense in Week 3 and here is recap of every drive of the night as the Titans lost by a score of 27-3. CLICK HERE
  • LIVE BLOG: Relive all the game action as it played out in real time during Sunday's game between the Titans and Browns in Cleveland. CLICK HERE

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Tyler Rowland
TYLER ROWLAND

Tyler Rowland is a Tennessee Titans fanatic for nearly 25 years and the host of the Locked On Titans podcast. While diving into all things Tennessee Titans, Tyler specializes in film study and providing grounded opinions on all of the latest Titans news.