Tennessee Titans 28, Cleveland Browns 26
Here are the biggest takeaways and highest-graded players from the Titans' Week 6 home win over the Browns.
Quarterback grade: Cody Kessler, 76.3
Cody Kessler improves, but still has a way to go
A string of three-and-outs indicated that this was an offense out of sync, but there were a number of drives which highlighted the progress of Kessler. He certainly displayed a more accurate arm than his stat line shows, though the concern remains regarding throws he drives outside the numbers. On more than one occasion, a lack of zip on the ball allowed defensive backs to tighten things up. There’s not much he can do about it in the upcoming week, but Kessler will hopefully develop more trust in the Browns' pass protection; he invited pressure and cost his lineman leverage on multiple occasions against the Titans.
Top offensive grades
WR Terrelle Pryor, 78.3
QB Cody Kessler, 76.3
LT Joe Thomas, 74.3
RG John Greco, 73.9
RT Austin Pasztor, 70.6
Pryor remains brightest Brown
Once again, Terrelle Pryor came up big as his conversion to wide receiver continues to be a huge success. He caught a couple of touchdowns and made his weekly spectacular grab, going over the top of Damien Stafford for a fourth-down conversion. On the downside, the line struggled to get anything going in the run game, with Cameron Erving (37.0) a particular disappointment as the team struggled to 2.7 yards per carry.
Top defensive grades
LB Demario Davis, 89.3
NT Danny Shelton, 85.8
CB Jamar Taylor, 85.2
S Ibraheim Campbell, 80.9
DT Gabe Wright, 73.6
Shelton steps up with career day
For the most part, this was a defense that won up front in the run game, but couldn’t get anything going rushing the passer. No player was better against the run than Danny Shelton, who had his best game as a pro, with his first half in particular full of highlights. He notched a team-leading six defensive stops, one of which was an impressive sack where he made Titans C Ben Jones look very ordinary.
Quarterback grade: Marcus Mariota, 68.0
Browns' mishaps make life easy for Mariota
Marcus Mariota ended the day with a nice stat line, but his performance didn't quite match those numbers. His first pass of the game had pick-six written all over it, and there were numerous completions where poor ball location put his receivers on the ground and killed their yards-after-the-catch potential. He remains good at hitting wide-open targets, but his struggles under pressure (eight dropbacks, two runs, two sacks, and one completion) are another area where he needs to get better.
Top offensive grades
WR Kendall Wright, 90.7
LT Taylor Lewan, 85.6
RT Jack Conklin, 83.3
WR Rishard Matthews, 79.7
TE Phillip Supernaw, 74.5
Wright turns limited opportunity into huge contribution
The Browns didn’t really have any answer to the explosive Kendall Wright, who beat them down the field and consistently on out routes. He ended the day playing just 22 snaps and running just 16 routes for a ridiculous 8.87 yards per route run. That was the best mark of any wide receiver from Sunday's 1 p.m. ET kickoffs. Outside of the wonderful Wright, it would be rude not to mention the play of both tackles. When Mariota drops back to pass block, you simply don’t notice them—so good they are—while in the run game, there’s plenty of viciousness to both.
Top defensive grades
DE Karl Klug, 84.7
CB Jason McCourty, 82.3
DT DaQuan Jones, 80.2
OLB Brian Orakpo, 77.9
OLB Derrick Morgan, 76.8
Aggressive Titans make life hard for Kessler
Tennessee went blitz-heavy, and it largely worked, as the team schemed plenty of unblocked pressure on the 25 blitzes they called. Up front, there was a good battle to be had, and the combination of Karl Klug and Brian Orakpo certainly made life hard for Browns LT Joe Thomas. Klug had a highlight-reel play in the run game, as he went past Thomas as if he wasn’t there for a big tackle for a loss. The lesser-known of the McCourty brothers deserves special praise for breaking up a couple of passes, continuing his strong start to the year.
PFF Game-Ball Winner: Titans WR Kendall Wright
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