Panthers vs. Titans: Tennessee Grades, Notes & Quotes
There was no shortage of opportunities for the Tennessee Titans to grab their second win in a row and end their nine-game home losing streak. In the end, the Carolina Panthers showed why they're undefeated by overpowering Tennessee for a decisive 27-10 victory.
The game was much closer than the final score indicates, as both teams traded defensive stops that kept it a one-possession game.
Bad field position really plagued the Titans, and the opposite happened for the Panthers as they regularly enjoyed favorable field position. The Panthers also had a large advantage in time of possession, leading to them executing 19 more plays than Tennessee.
Cam Newton furthered his case of being in the MVP conversation, while Marcus Mariota was never able to find a groove against a stout Panthers secondary that lived up to its reputation.
The Titans have a quick turnaround as they'll go on the road to face the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday night.
Position Grades for Titans
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| Position | Grade |
| QB | C |
| RB | C+ |
| WR | C- |
| TE | B- |
| OL | C+ |
| DL | C+ |
| LB | B+ |
| DB | D |
| Special Teams | C- |
| Coaching | C+ |
A very average performance across the board won't be good enough to beat elite teams like the Panthers. The biggest area in which the Titans struggled was once again in the secondary. They had no answer for Newton and were only able to stop him when there was a decent pass rush applied.
The Titans did enjoy some success in getting to Newton at linebacker. Brian Orakpo notched his sixth sack of the season, and Avery Williamson was all over the field with a game-high 14 total tackles.
Williamson also had two tackles for loss and a quarterback hit. He's really evolving into a solid middle linebacker.
The defensive line got gashed a few times by Jonathan Stewart; they ended up having a pedestrian performance. Most of the pressure on Newton came from linebackers.
As for the secondary, we knew this was going to be the weak link with two starters being out. Both Jason McCourty and Perrish Cox were unable to go, forcing the Titans to go with inexperience virtually all over the secondary.
Michael Griffin was the only true veteran playing in the secondary. The odds aren't in your favor when you have to go with that much youth in the pass-happy NFL.
There was absolutely no running room for Antonio Andrews. He also failed to break a lot of tackles he usually has success at breaking. He gains a lot of his yardage after contract but was unable to do that against such a sharp tackling team like the Panthers.
We finally saw some evidence that Mariota is indeed human, and not a robot. He made some rookie mistakes and had trouble finding any kind of rhythm. He fumbled a snap that he was fortunate enough to fall on and also threw an interception that looked like it was meant to be thrown out of bounds.
You may remember that the same thing happened last week against the New Orleans Saints, but he was lucky enough to see it ricochet into the hands of Delanie Walker for a touchdown.
There's no reason to panic from what you saw from Mariota. He's going to have games like this when he has so many young players around him. The offense desperately needs Kendall Wright back, because this receiving corps have no chance against good opposing secondaries.
The game plan from interim head coach Mike Mularkey was pretty much what it was expected to be. He wasn't going to be able to throw the ball all over the Panthers defense. He tried to stick with the run as long as he could, but there was just no room to gain much yardage. It led to a lot of long third-down attempts.
This game was very close in the third quarter, but the Titans started to unravel as the game approached the fourth. Mularkey pointed to a sluggish second half, per John Glennon of the Tennessean:
"Mularkey says too many second-half mistakes hurt Titans
— John Glennon (@glennonsports) November 15, 2015"
It didn't have the heartbreaking feeling that other close losses have had earlier in the season. This one was clearly just the case of the Panthers being the better team.
Justin Hunter Injured Late in the Game
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If the Titans weren't already thin enough at wide receiver, it looks like they'll lose Justin Hunter for a considerable amount of time. He suffered some sort of leg injury from getting rolled on, via Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com:
"#Titans WR Justin Hunter got legs rolled by Luke Kuechly, left leg took brunt right on Panthers' sideline. Cart out very quickly.
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) November 15, 2015"
He was also seen on crunches after the game, via Kuharsky:
"Injured Titans receiver Justin Hunter. He's not been very productive, but alternative... https://t.co/wlqxK6fcSC pic.twitter.com/NVB8mmB9uE
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) November 15, 2015"
The Titans were already without leading receiver Kendall Wright. If they also lose Hunter, then they'll be down to just Harry Douglas, Dorial Green-Beckham and Rico Richardson. They also have a short week with a Thursday night game on the road in Jacksonville to prepare for.
This loss will put even more pressure on Mariota, and also Green-Beckham. There's no way they're going to be able to compete with this current crop of receivers. Hopefully, Wright can return this week, and the running game can be more effective against the Jaguars.
No Answer for the Cam Newton-Greg Olsen Connection
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The Panthers didn't exactly bring in a scary passing offense to Nissan Stadium. With that being said, we did know that Cam Newton and Greg Olsen have always had great chemistry. That was witnessed firsthand as Newton connected with Olsen eight times for 80 yards.
Those numbers aren't enormous, but Olsen made a ton of big catches to keep drives alive. The Titans couldn't figure out a way to stop these two from hooking up on the first Panthers scoring drive that put them up 7-0.
Perhaps the biggest catch of the day came when Olsen made a one-handed grab on a circus catch with Orakpo defending. It was the first play of a 10-play scoring drive that put the game out of reach for the Titans.
Newton started by completing his first 11 throws, the longest streak of his career. He's really starting to peak into an unstoppable force, and the Titans bore the brunt of it for most of the game.
When the Titans did get pressure on Newton, he avoided making the big mistake. He showed that he's becoming a savvy veteran that sticks with the game plan.
Mularkey probably summed this game up the best with his simple comment on the Panthers, via Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com:
".@Titans coach Mike Mularkey of the Panthers: "That's a good football team." pic.twitter.com/nGUWb9Ufpi
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) November 15, 2015"
Sometimes you have to just tip your hat to the better team and take it as a big learning moment for your young team.
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Mularkey Upset over Missed Calls, Newton Celebrating
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There are plenty of reasons to be frustrated over this loss to the Panthers. However, there was one thing in particular that Mularkey didn't seem pleased about regarding Newton and his celebrating, via Jason Wolf of the Tennessean:
"Mularkey on Newton dancing: "He did it all game. I guess that's acceptable. That's not taunting. But in my mind it is." #Titans #Panthers
— Jason Wolf (@JasonWolf) November 15, 2015"
This has always been Newton's style. He's a showman, and he has backed it up on numerous occasions this season. He certainly backed it up in this game to the tune of a 114.3 passer rating.
There are different quarterback personalities, and Newton chooses to celebrate more than the typical quarterback. As long as he's not directly taunting another player, then there's no harm in it.
To be fair, Mularkey gave the Panther credit and pointed out that his team just didn't play well, via the official Titans Twitter page:
"#Titans coach Mike Mularkey: "That’s a good football team that we went up against today…mistakes hurt us.”
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) November 15, 2015"
The best way to combat Newton's celebrating is to not give him a reason to celebrate, and the Titans failed to do that. Imagine what Newton will do if he gets the Panthers to the Super Bowl.
There was also another controversial hit on Mariota. Keeping him healthy is perhaps the biggest objective for this organization. A questionable hit on Mariota as he was sliding was a topic that Mularkey commented on:
"Mularkey says Mariota was hit in head on slide. No flag. Says it's something NFL VP of officiating Dean Blandino should address. #Titans
— Jason Wolf (@JasonWolf) November 15, 2015"
It was a bang-bang play that could've been called either way. With the way the offense was stuck in neutral at the time, a 15-yard penalty would've been nice to have.
Brian Orakpo on Playing Thursday Night Game
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It was another solid effort from Orakpo as he tallied his sixth sack of the season. Acquiring him in the offseason has seemed to pay off for now as he's bolstered the Titans defense at linebacker.
There's no time to sulk on this loss as Orakpo and the Titans have to quickly prepare for a divisional game on Thursday night versus the Jaguars.
Orakpo laid out his thoughts on Thursday night games, via Jason Wolf of the Tennessean:
"#Titans LB Brian Orakpo: "Nobody likes Thursday night games. We love being on a national televised game, but short weeks in this NFL sucks."
— Jason Wolf (@JasonWolf) November 15, 2015"
The consolation of a short week is getting some national exposure, which the Titans have rarely received in recent years. Unfortunately, it comes against an AFC South opponent that can't be overlooked. The Jaguars are coming off of a nice win over the Baltimore Ravens and still have a playoff spot of their own on the line.
Divisional games are tough enough as it is because both teams usually know each other very well. It's even tougher when you're a Titans team that will be playing its seventh game in less than seven weeks. That early bye in Week 4 will really start taking its toll as the latter part of the schedule unfolds.
This may be an ugly matchup on paper, but the result will have a major impact on the division. That's especially true if the Indianapolis Colts keep sputtering along.
If the Titans are showing any kind of progress from last season's dismal 2-14 team, then they need to grab this win in front of a national audience.
Marcus Mariota on the Panthers Defense
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It was a humbling day for Mariota coming off a four-touchdown game that secured an overtime win. That win brought a ton of anticipation toward maybe pulling off another upset over an undefeated Panthers team at home, but it wasn't meant to be.
The Titans have now lost 10 straight home games and won't get another chance to end that losing streak until Week 12 against a much-improved Oakland Raiders team.
Mariota gave a lot of props to the Panthers for their elite defense, per Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com:
"Mariota said "hat's off" to the @Panthers. Said they're probably the best defense he's faced this season @Titans
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) November 15, 2015"
Chalk this up as a major learning experience for Mariota. With his kind of intelligence, he will learn from this game and build off of it. We have to temper our lofty expectations for him and realize that there will be growing pains against good defenses.
Jurrell Casey on Helping the Offense
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The defense was unable to force a turnover against the Panthers. When you have a limited offense that's going up against a formidable defense, you have to create turnovers.
Jurrell Casey had a relatively quiet day with just two tackles and no hits on Cam Newton. He spoke about the need to create turnovers, via the Titans' official Twitter page:
".@Jurrellc: It's our job to create turnovers to put our offense in a better position to score points. pic.twitter.com/irIVxcqwy8
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) November 15, 2015"
Creating a short field will play a key role in if the Titans will be able to scratch and claw their way to a few more wins down the stretch. This offense just isn't talented enough to go on a lot of long scoring drives like they've been forced to do far too many times.
They do have a couple of young quarterbacks coming up on the schedule with Blake Bortles and Derek Carr. An aggressive pass rush will give them a good chance to force some turnovers in the coming weeks.
The Titans ranked near the bottom half of the NFL in takeaways coming into the game with 11. This is an area in which they have to excel to pull off some upsets.
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