In a game where it felt like both teams had to truly earn every yard and every big play, the New Orleans Saints defended their home field and defeated the Tennessee Titans by a score of 16-15.
Offensive spotlight: The Saints had a handful of players who were worthy of the spotlight in this game. Receiver Chris Olave tallied 100-plus receiving yards. Fellow receiver Rashid Shaheed had a big touchdown catch. And then there is the new quarterback in town, Derek Carr.
Derek Carr tosses his first TD as a Saint!
📺: #TENvsNO on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/G4uoYVOqQn pic.twitter.com/VFssS0wEJB— NFL (@NFL) September 10, 2023
Carr finished his day 23-of-33 with 305 passing yards, one passing touchdown and one interception. It wasn't a perfect day by any means, as Carr had a few throws that were either far off target or that got him in trouble. But he also hit some big shots to a variety of receivers to secure the Saints a tough win to start the season. The roster has enough playmakers that any upgrade at quarterback could be what gets them back to the postseason.
Defensive spotlight: Saints defensive tackle Carl Granderson was impressive in Week 1 of 2023.
Why did Carl Granderson win the starting job? Here’s a good sample. Wow. #Saints pic.twitter.com/hVB2ELYkj5
— Jeff Nowak (@Jeff_Nowak) September 10, 2023
Granderson finished the game with 1.5 sacks, one tackle for loss and four quarterback hits. He also had a handful of pressures in the game, one of which led to a Marshon Lattimore interception.
Rookie spotlight: Saints first-round defensive lineman Bryan Bresee got a half sack in his first regular season game in the NFL. He also recorded two quarterback hits.
Box Score
Passing
Tennessee Titans |
|||||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Comp/Att | Yds | YPA | TD | Int | Long | Sacks | Rtg |
| Ryan Tannehill | 5.42 | 16 / 34 | 198 | 5.8 | 0 | 3 | 46 | 3 | 28.8 |
New Orleans Saints |
|||||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Comp/Att | Yds | YPA | TD | Int | Long | Sacks | Rtg |
| Derek Carr | 18.6 | 23 / 33 | 305 | 9.2 | 1 | 1 | 45 | 4 | 96.2 |
Rushing
Tennessee Titans |
|||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Car | Yds | YPC | TD | Long | Fum Lost |
| Derrick Henry | 13.9 | 15 | 63 | 4.2 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| Ryan Tannehill | 5.42 | 3 | 5 | 1.7 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Treylon Burks | 4.7 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Tyjae Spears | 3.8 | 3 | 27 | 9 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
New Orleans Saints |
|||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Car | Yds | YPC | TD | Long | Fum Lost |
| Rashid Shaheed | 20 | 2 | 11 | 5.5 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| Derek Carr | 18.6 | 3 | 4 | 1.3 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Jamaal Williams | 7.2 | 18 | 45 | 2.5 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| Tony Jones Jr. | 0.5 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Taysom Hill | 0.4 | 3 | 4 | 1.3 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Receiving
Tennessee Titans |
||||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Tgt | Rec | Yds | YPT | YPR | TD | Long |
| Derrick Henry | 13.9 | 3 | 2 | 56 | 18.7 | 28 | 0 | 46 |
| DeAndre Hopkins | 13.5 | 13 | 7 | 65 | 5 | 9.3 | 0 | 16 |
| Nick Westbrook-Ikhine | 9.8 | 7 | 4 | 58 | 8.3 | 14.5 | 0 | 24 |
| Treylon Burks | 4.7 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 14 |
| Tyjae Spears | 3.8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Chris Moore | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chigoziem Okonkwo | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
New Orleans Saints |
||||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Tgt | Rec | Yds | YPT | YPR | TD | Long |
| Chris Olave | 22.2 | 10 | 8 | 112 | 11.2 | 14 | 0 | 45 |
| Rashid Shaheed | 20 | 6 | 5 | 89 | 14.8 | 17.8 | 1 | 41 |
| Michael Thomas | 11.1 | 8 | 5 | 61 | 7.6 | 12.2 | 0 | 25 |
| Jamaal Williams | 7.2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 0 | 5 |
| Juwan Johnson | 6.6 | 5 | 3 | 36 | 7.2 | 12 | 0 | 27 |
| Taysom Hill | 0.4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Keith Kirkwood | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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