Tennessee Titans 13, Denver Broncos 10
Here are the top-graded players and biggest takeaways from the Titans' 13-10 win over the Broncos in Week 14:
Quarterback grade: Marcus Mariota, 46.2
Mariota’s inaccuracy issues on display in win
The game plan for the Titans going into Sunday was clearly to pound the rock directly at the Denver front seven. The plan largely worked, but quarterback Marcus Mariota was unable to complement the effort by producing anything in the running game. He only completed six passes on the day and struggled throwing into possibly the best secondary in the league. The Titans are going to need more efforts like the previous three games from Mariota if they are going to take the AFC South crown — not like the one we saw on Sunday.
Top offensive grades:
FB Jalston Fowler, 90.2
C Ben Jones, 83.3
G Quinton Spain, 82.8
OT Taylor Lewan, 81.7
OT Jack Conklin, 79.0
Offensive line’s run-blocking stands out in Titans' win
The Titans' offense absolutely dominated the time of possession battle in the first half, and that was because of their run-blocking. Four out of five members of the Titans' starting offensive line had above-average run-blocking grades, and helped out Mariota by only giving up five pressures on the day. Left guard Quinton Spann led the way with a 85.5 run-blocking grade on the day.
Top defensive grades:
CB LeShaun Simms, 87.4
ED Brian Orakpo, 84.2
LB Wesley Woodyard, 83.1
CB Brice McCain, 81.1
CB Antwon Blake, 79.9
Titans secondary challenged, and makes enough plays to get the win
With the Broncos unable to get their running game going, they chose to challenge the Tiatns secondary. While some Titans CBs struggled (Jason McCourty allowed nine receptions), Brice McCain and LeShaun Simms flourished. Simms only allowed two catches on five targets for four yards, and had two pass breakups. McCain also only allowed two catches, but it was on four targets for 16 yards, and he also had a pass breakup. Simms ended the game with an 87.8 coverage grade, and McCain’s was 80.2 on the day.
Quarterback grade: Trevor Siemian, 73.0
Siemain plays well enough to win, but no help given
Trevor Siemian was by no means bad in this game, and he actually played well enough for his team to win, but he did not get the help he needed. WRs Emmanuel Sanders and Bennie Fowler each had opportunities to make big catches on well-thrown balls, but could not come down with the catch. Fumbles by running back Justin Forsett and tight end A.J. Derby in the final drive were also huge hits for the offense. Siemain made enough throws and did not put the ball in danger once, which is a formula that usually ends in victory for the Broncos.
Top offensive grades:
WR Demaryius Thomas, 82.9
G Max Garcia, 78.8
G Michael Schofield, 76.8
QB Trevor Siemian, 73.0
WR Emmanuel Sanders, 73.0
Sanders and Thomas targeted at huge rates in loss
Damaryius Thomas had his highest-graded game of the season on Sunday. He made several nice catches and put his team in position to make plays, but Sanders and Thomas were targeted 14 and 15 times, respectively. Each made 11 catches on the day and were seemingly the only offense that Denver could muster. The Achilles heels for the offense on the day were the two fumbles and the offensive tackles, who allowed 11 total pressures by themselves.
Top defensive grades:
ED Von Miller, 79.5
CB Chris Harris Jr., 78.5
LB Zaire Anderson, 78.5
CB Aqib Talib, 75.1
CB Bradley Roby, 72.8
Pass-rush absent for Denver’s defense in loss
Von Miller graded out well overall on Sunday, but it was not due to his pass rush. Miller, who only had two pressures on the day, had his first below-average game rushing the passer this season. Miller only came up with a 44.5 pass-rush grade. He was stellar in the run game, however, with four run stops and a 92.1 run-defense grade. The reason the Broncos could not tee off rushing the passer was because they were run on so effectively. Jared Crick was the biggest problem in that department, with a 36.4 run-defense grade.
PFF Game-Ball Winner: Titans OLB Brian Orakpo
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