By The Numbers: Tennessee Titans Performed Well Analytically Around Tannehill Disaster

The Tennessee Titans have to be disappointed with the loss to the New Orleans Saints, but looking into the numbers should give them plenty of sources of optimism.

It was a disappointing way to start the season for the Tennessee Titans as they dropped their opener 16-15 to the New Orleans Saints. While that disappointment is deserved, if you look a bit deeper, you will see a lot of reasons for excitement.

Defensive Line

The Titans' defensive line was dominant for most of the game against the Saints. Despite being put in horrible positions by the anemic offense, the defense was able to hold the Saints to only 16 points, at home, while allowing their only touchdown off an interception that started the scoring drive in Titans' territory.

The defense did their job and at the heart of the effort was that pass rush. Starting with newcomer Arden Key who had a fantastic debut with 1.5 sacks, that should have been 2.5 and a forced fumble. According to Next Gen Stats, Key generated the most pressures in the NFL in Week 1 with 11.

Arden Key generated a league-high 11 pressures in his @Titans debut, four more than any other player league-wide in Week 1.

The Titans signed Key this offseason just a few months after Key recorded 9 pressures in Week 18 against Tennessee, his previous career-high.#Titans pic.twitter.com/2TVZFFlTC1

— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 12, 2023

It wasn't just Key that made a calculable impression on Sunday, veteran Denico Autry continued his versatile dominance. According to ESPN Analytics, Autry was the only player in the NFL to finish in the top 20 in their pass rush win rate metric at two positions — edge rusher and interior rusher. Autry had a win rate of 27% on the edge and 20% from the interior. 

Offensive Line

There was a narrative coming out of Sunday's loss to the Saints that the offensive line did not perform well enough in pass protection and it led to some of Ryan Tannehill's mistakes, but if you look closer at the film or the numbers, that isn't really the case.

The offensive line struggled a bit early with a good Saints' front, but settled in nicely. According to Pro Football Focus, the Titans' offensive line was the 11th best group in pass protection in the NFL in Week 1, finishing with a pass blocking grade of 73.0 as a unit.

We also see some fantastic data individually. Rookie guard Peter Skoronski had the sixth-highest overall grade of any guard in the NFL. He was top seven in run blocking. Skoronski looked every bit the first rounder the Titans hoped he would be.

Skoronski's success may not be surprising, but this next data point about Chris Hubbard certainly will. Hubbard, the Titans' starting right tackle, won 100% of his pass blocking reps and was tied as the top offensive tackle in pass block win rate according to ESPN Analytics.

Also according to ESPN, the Titans as a unit were the fifth-best group in pass block win rate.

Pass Catchers

As displayed in the film breakdown on Tannehill, there were more receivers getting open than it seemed in real time. Treylon Burks, DeAndre Hopkins, Chig Okonkwo and Tyjae Spears all had opportunities squandered by the poor play of the quarterback.

There is, of course, a data point that proves this as well. As you can see in the graph below, the Titans receivers actually got open more than the Saints' receivers. A surprising fact that only highlights Tannehill's bad day.

As you can see on the x axis(horizontal), the Titans only saw the Saints perfectly cover  a pass play 27-28% of the time. This means that there are only five teams who got open more often than the Titans. A great sign for the Titans' pass catchers.

Titans Related Stories

• TANNEHILL WORSE ON FILM: The Tennessee Titans lost their opening game of the season while watching quarterback Ryan Tannehill throw three interceptions and if it looked bad on TV, it looked worse on the coaches film. CLICK HERE
• WEEK 1 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
• WEEK 1 DEFENSIVE 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 defense. CLICK HERE
• WEEK 1 SNAP COUNTS: The Tennessee Titans lost their opening game of the season to the New Orleans Saints and here is a look at the snap counts on both sides of the ball during the contest. CLICK HERE