Dallas Cowboys vs. Tennessee Titans: Full Report Card Grades for Tennessee

The Tennessee Titans did a little role reversal in Week 2. They won 26-10 on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs only to turn around and lose 26-10 at home to the Dallas Cowboys.

They also went from having the best time of possession to what will almost certainly be the worst by the time all other games are done.

The Titans played well in the second half, but they dug themselves so far into the hole in the first half that the fairly good play they had in the second half wasn't enough to erase or even decrease the point deficit.

To add injury to insult, Jason McCourty was forced to leave the game early with a groin injury. No word yet on how that will affect him going forward, but with the team already missing Pro Bowler Alterraun Verner, McCourty missing time would be devastating.

Without further ado, here are report card grades for every Titans unit from their Week 2 loss to Dallas.

Quarterback

Wade Payne/Associated Press

Jake Locker's performance was a tale of two halves.

To call his first half awful would be an understatement. He played well in the second half, but the offensive ineptitude Locker was responsible for in the first half limited the Titans in the second. And even though they were better, it wasn't enough.

Locker missed easy throws, made bad decisions and threw an interception in the first half, where he was 3-of-11 for 16 yards.

In the second half, Locker was 15-of-23 for 218 yards, a touchdown and an interception, and that sounds impressive, but a lot of it was against a prevent defense.

The grade may seem low, but the terrible first half was almost all on Locker, and it was being that far behind that lost the Titans the game.

Grade: D

Running Backs

David Goldman/Associated Press

With the Titans falling behind in points so quickly, the running backs didn't have much of a chance to play, which is too bad because Shonn Greene was off to a promising start.

Greene had only five carries, all in the first half, but turned those into 40 yards. That's eight yards per carry.

Dexter McCluster got a few carries in the second half: four carries for 30 yards. That may not be as good as Greene's eight-yard average, but it is still a ridiculously high average for any back.

The only running back who struggled was rookie Bishop Sankey, who had two carries for three yards.

The running game was great; it's just too bad the Titans didn't get a chance to use it more.

Grade: A-

Receivers and Tight Ends

Mark Zaleski/Associated Press

Delanie Walker had an awesome game. He was Locker's No. 1 target, led the team in receptions and receiving yards and he scored the Titans' only touchdown of the day.

Walker finished with 10 receptions for 142 yards and the touchdown. He also made quite a few impressive plays along the way.

Beyond Walker, some of the blame for the loss goes to the Titans receivers. Both Justin Hunter and Nate Washington dropped passes that should have been caught, both of which would have been big plays for Tennessee and may have kept the Titans in the game.

Kendall Wright had a solid game, which has become the norm for him. He doesn't make the big plays as often as guys like Walker and Hunter, but he's reliable and does a good job of making something out of nothing.

Grade: B-

Offensive Line

Frederick Breedon/Getty Images

The offensive line was a mixed bag. Run blocking was excellent for the few times it was called, but Locker took quite a few hits and a couple of sacks.

There was a huge improvement in mistakes, though. Against the Chiefs, the Titans had 12 penalties for 110 yards, and a lot of those came from the offensive line.

This week, there were a measly five penalties, and none was against the offensive line, so if nothing else, the offensive line is playing cleaner.

Grade: C+

Defensive Line

Frederick Breedon/Getty Images

Well, Jurrell Casey was great, and there was a lot of penetration early on, but the defensive line has to shoulder some of the blame for DeMarco Murray and the Cowboys running backs.

The Cowboys rushed 44 times for 220 yards. Murray himself had 167 yards and a touchdown.

That said, the defensive line was responsible for three sacks (two by Casey, one by Ropati Pitoitua), three hits on Tony Romo and four tackles for loss.

It's worth noting that all tackles for loss, sacks and quarterback hits, along with five of the unit's 12 total tackles, came from just two players: Casey and Pitoitua.

Grade: B-

Linebackers

Mark Zaleski/Associated Press

In my mind, it's linebackers who are primarily responsible for stopping the run. After all, it was Wesley Woodyard who had Jamaal Charles' number in Week 1, and it's the outside linebackers who seal the edge on running plays.

With that in mind, I assigned most of the blame for the Cowboys' running game to the linebackers.

Kamerion Wimbley was the only Titans linebacker who defended a pass or hit the quarterback, and Zaviar Gooden was the only one to make a tackle for a loss.

Derrick Morgan had a couple of pressures on Tony Romo, but that was about it. Beyond that, the unit played pretty poorly.

Grade: C-

Defensive Backs

Reed Hoffmann/Associated Press

The defensive backs started out strong. With the pressure the defensive line was generating, all they had to do was cover Jason Witten and Dez Bryant long enough to prevent Romo from getting off a quick pass.

Bryant gave Jason McCourty some trouble, but overall, McCourty held him in check. Then the second half came, and McCourty was out with a groin injury. After that, the unit fell apart.

With its best player out, it was up to Coty Sensabaugh and Blidi Wreh-Wilson to cover Bryant, and they had no chance. Sixty-two of Bryant's yards and his only touchdown came after McCourty left the game.

The defensive backs ended up doing a lot of the tackling on DeMarco Murray, which is why the three leading tacklers on the team are all defensive backs (Bernard Pollard, Michael Griffin and Wreh-Wilson).

Pollard had a sack, but he also was responsible for a late hit that turned fourth down into first down for the Cowboys. The unit wasn't bad overall, and were it not for mistakes by the rest of the team and McCourty's injury, it would have played much better.

Grade: B

Special Teams

Wade Payne/Associated Press

You've got to have no complaints with how Ryan Succop or Brett Kern kicked. Succop nailed the only field goal, and Kern averaged 45 yards per punt.

Beyond those two, special teams play wasn't great either. Leon Washington dropped a kickoff, forcing the Titans to begin their drive on the 8-yard line to start the second half.

Earlier in the game, when the Cowboys were already up by 13 and with less than a minute to go, multiple missed tackles allowed Dwayne Harris to return a punt 15 yards and get the Cowboys into field-goal range.

They ended up getting a field goal, increasing their lead to 16 before the first half ended.

Grade: C-

Coaching

Wade Payne/Associated Press

You have to admire Ken Whisenhunt for the adjustments he made at halftime. It's tough to make a team suddenly effective with a 16-point deficit.

That said, you have to criticize him for his original game plan and for the play-calling that got the team into the 16-point deficit. The decision to keep passing on first down when Locker was having what may have been his worst game ever was baffling.

Shonn Greene averaged eight yards per carry in the first half. He should have seen more carries.

Ray Horton did a great job coordinating the pass defense. Romo took three sacks in the first quarter alone, and Dez Bryant was limited.

However, allowing a running back to rush for 167 yards is inexcusable, especially when that running back isn't even in the elite category.

Grade: C-