3 Things Titans Can Learn From NFL Opener on Thursday Night

NASHVILLE — The NFL season kicked off on Thursday night with a wildly entertaining game between the defending world champion Kansas City Chiefs and the up-and-coming Detroit Lions, and we learned a lot.

Hopefully, the Tennessee Titans learned a lot, too.

The way the NFL preseason is set up anymore, we learn hardly anything during the preseason. Most stars never play a down in preseason games, and every game plan is vanilla. So it's not until Week 1 rolls around and the games are real that we can really find out how good — or how bad — a team really is.

The Lions, who made a statement at the end of the 2022 season and have announced themselves as the best team in the NFC North, pulled off a stunner on Thursday night, beating the Chiefs 21-20 despite being a 6.5-point underdog.

A lot stood out in the opener, and a lot of it can carry over for the Titans, too, who open their season on Sunday in New Orleans. We know that the Caesers Superdome will be rocking for the Saints' home opener, and that's the reasons why they are a 3.5-point favorite over the Titans.

But here's what stood out Thursday night —and definitely carries over to Sunday for the Titans.

1. Making the crowd noise a non-factor

OK, well, not a complete non-factor because that would be disrespecting the great, throaty Chiefs fans at Arrowhead, but the Lions did a great job of blocking it out. They were well prepared for the noise, and only had one false start penalty the entire game, and that came with 5 minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

It helps that the Lions have a veteran quarterback in Jared Goff, who will be 29 next month and is in his eighth year as a starter in the league. They also have one of the league's best — and most experienced — offensive lines. It looked to me that the Lions didn't try to change plays at the line of scrimmage with noise raining down on them, and that helped.

The Titans need to do the same thing on Sunday in the Superdome, being well prepared to handle the noise and execute at a high level with the plays that are called. They've also worked a lot of hand signals, so they need to take a page out of the Lions' book and make sure it doesn't cause problems.

2. Catch the damn ball

The Chiefs played the game without tight end Travis Kelce, who's one of the biggest pass-catching threats in the game. All-world QB Patrick Mahomes did all his magic, but he was victimized by at least a half-dozen drops by receivers and others.

It was absolutely the difference in the outcome of the game.

Wide receiver Kadarius Toney had a perfect throw from Mahomes bounce off his hands, which got picked and returned 50 yards to the house for a game-tying touchdown. He had two other massive drops later. Skyy Moore, Noah Gray, Jerick McKinnon and Rashee Rice all had drops, too.

Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill is an accurate passer, so when the Titans get chances on Sunday, they have to capitalize. They can't have drops, and they have to keep moving the chains. Bringing in DeAndre Hopkins is a huge help, because he's got the best hands in the league. But other Titans have a history of drops, and we don't know if Treylon Burks is 100 percent. The ball hits your hands? You better damn well catch it.

3. Don't give up on the run

The Lions kept pounding the ball late, and kept getting first downs, keeping the ball out of Mahomes' hands. They ran the ball 34 times, with running back David Montgomery getting 21 carries for 74 yards and electric rookie Jahmyr Gibbs gaining 42 yards on just seven rushes.

That game-long commitment wore out the Chiefs' defensive front, and it paid off late. It also allowed Goff to pass for 253 yards, and he had several big chunks on play-action passes.

The Titans have Derrick Henry, and their own electric rookie in Tyjae Spears, who's having a happy homecoming to New Orleans. We'll have to wait to see how run heavy Tim Kelly's new offense is, but that is the Titans' identity, of course. If it's struggling early, just keep at it.

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