TEAM NOTES
- The 28-23 win improved the Titans' record to 6-0 following a bye week since Mike Vrabel was hired as head coach in 2018. The Titans are one of four teams to remain unbeaten following their bye week since 2018, along with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills.
- The Titans improved their all-time record at Nissan Stadium to 115-87, including the regular season and playoffs.
- Five of the 48 players who saw action in the game for the Titans made their team season debuts: quarterback Will Levis, running back Jonathan Ward, safety Terrell Edmunds, safety K'Von Wallace and linebacker Joe Jones.
TEAM NOTES – OFFENSE
- The 28 points scored by the Titans tied for their highest total in a game since they scored 34 points against Miami on Jan. 2, 2022. During that span, they also scored 28 points at Houston on Jan. 9, 2022.
- The Titans totaled 375 net yards on offense, including 149 rushing yards and 226 passing yards. The 375 yards made up their second-highest total of the season through seven games.
- The Titans won the time-of-possession battle for the fourth time in 2023, holding the ball for 32 minutes and 59 seconds against the Falcons.
TEAM NOTES – DEFENSE
- The defense's six total sacks were their most in a game since a six-sack performance against the Denver Broncos on Nov. 13, 2022.
- The Titans defense tallied five sacks in the first half. It was the highest first-half total for the team during the regular season since recording six sacks at Indianapolis on Nov. 26, 2017. The defense more recently had five sacks in the first half of a divisional playoff contest against Cincinnati on Jan. 22, 2022.
- In the first half, the Titans defense limited the Falcons to three points, five first downs, 89 total yards and 35 net passing yards.
- For the fourth time in 2023, the Titans defense limited an opponent to fewer than 20 first downs.
- The Titans defense allowed the Falcons to convert on four of their 15 third-down attempts (26.7 percent). It was the third time in 2023 a Titans opponent converted less than 30 percent on third down.
- The 202 net passing yards by the Falcons was the second-lowest total by a Titans opponent through seven games.
ILB AZEEZ AL-SHAAIR
- Led the defense with 11 tackles and added a fumble recovery.
- Recorded a takeaway in the second quarter, pouncing on the ball after a Desmond Ridder It was his first fumble recovery of 2023 and his fourth career fumble recovery. The turnover led to a Titans touchdown on the ensuing drive.
DL DENICO AUTRY
- Totaled four tackles, one sack and a team-high two passes defensed.
- Sacked Desmond Ridder for a 10-yard loss in the second quarter. He increased his season total to a team-best five sacks and his career total to 52.5 sacks.
- Secured his sixth career season and his fourth consecutive season with at least five sacks.
S TERRELL EDMUNDS
- Recorded one tackle at safety and one stop on special teams in his Titans debut.
CB KRISTIAN FULTON
- Finished second on the defense with eight tackles and added a pass defensed.
DB ERIC GARROR
- Registered his first career start in the nickel defensive package and registered four tackles.
- Served as the team's punt returner, totaling 32 yards on five returns for a 6.4-yard average.
- Gained 15 yards on his first career punt return in the first quarter.
LB JACK GIBBENS
- Totaled five tackles, including a sack.
- Registered his first career sack in the second quarter, dropping Desmond Ridder for a nine-yard loss.
RB DERRICK HENRY
- Led the team with 101 rushing yards on 22 carries (4.6 avg.) and added four receptions for 21 yards.
- Registered his 39th total 100-yard rushing game, including regular season (36) and playoffs (three). He surpassed Eddie George (38 total) for the second-most such games in franchise history, trailing only Earl Campbell (40). His 36th such regular-season game eclipsed Chris Johnson's mark (35) and tied George (36) for the second-most in franchise history, behind only Campbell (39).
- Registered his fourth game of 2023 (46th career game) with at least 100 scrimmage yards.
S AMANI HOOKER
- Tied for third place on the team with seven tackles and added a pass defensed.
- Converted a fake punt for a first down with a two-yard rushing attempt on fourth-and-one in the first quarter.
WR DeANDRE HOPKINS
- Led the team with 128 receiving yards and three touchdowns on four catches (32.0 avg.).
- Registered his first career game with at least 100 receiving yards and three touchdown receptions.
- Logged his 13th career game with at least two touchdown receptions and his second career game with three touchdown receptions. His only other career game with three touchdown catches was as a member of the Houston Texans against the Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 8, 2017.
- Logged his 41st career 100-yard receiving game and his second as a member of the Titans.
- Caught his first touchdown as a member of the Titans on a 47-yard pass from Will Levis in the first quarter. It was Levis' first career touchdown pass.
- Became the third player in NFL history to catch the first career touchdown pass of four different players, joining Marvin Harrison and Joey Galloway.
- Added a 16-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter and a 61-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter. The latter tied for the fourth-longest reception of his career.
- Increased his career total to 74 touchdown receptions, which ranked fourth in the NFL since he entered the NFL in 2013 behind only Davante Adams (90), Mike Evans (86) and Antonio Brown (76). Kansas City's Travis Kelce totaled 73 prior to his Week 8 game.
- Extended his active streak to 152 consecutive games with a reception—every game he has played since he entered the NFL. It is the longest active streak in the NFL. Hopkins' streak is the fourth-longest in NFL history to begin a career behind only Marvin Harrison (190 consecutive games), Keyshawn Johnson (167) and Marshall Faulk (158).
OLB HAROLD LANDRY III
- Tied for the team lead with two sacks and totaled five tackles.
- Helped stall a Falcons drive in the first quarter with a three-yard sack of Desmond Ridder on third down.
- Sacked Taylor Heinicke for an eight-yard loss in the fourth quarter.
- Matched his career high and registered his fourth career game with two sacks. The last time he accomplished the feat was against Buffalo on Oct. 18, 2021.
- With four sacks in 2023, he increased his career total to 35 sacks, which ranks 12th in franchise history.
QB WILL LEVIS
- Recorded a start in the first game of his NFL career. He became the 12th rookie starting quarterback in franchise history and the first since Malik Willis at Houston on Oct. 30, 2022.
- Completed 19 of 29 passes for 238 yards and four touchdowns without throwing an interception. His passer rating was 130.5, which was the best in franchise history among qualifying players (minimum 20 attempts) in the first start of a rookie season.
- Became the fifth player in NFL history with a minimum 20 attempts and a passer rating of 130.0 or better in his first NFL game. The only previous players to accomplish the feat were: San Francisco's Nick Mullens (151.9 vs. Oakland on Nov. 1, 2018), Minnesota's Fran Tarkenton (148.6 vs. Chicago on Sept. 17, 1961, Washington's Robert Griffin III (139.9 at New Orleans on Sept. 9, 2012) and St. Louis' Marc Bulger (134.1 vs. Oakland on Oct. 13, 2002).
- Became the third player in NFL history to record four touchdown passes in his NFL debut, joining Minnesota's Fran Tarkenton and the Titans' Marcus Mariota.
- Completed his first NFL touchdown pass in the first quarter on a 47-yard bomb to DeAndre Hopkins. He added touchdown passes to Hopkins of 16 yards in the second quarter and 61 yards in the third quarter.
- Tossed a 33-yard touchdown pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine in the fourth quarter.
- Rushed for 11 yards on seven attempts, including quarterback sneaks for first downs on each of his first two career rushing attempts.
- Became the first Titans quarterback with four touchdown passes in a game since Ryan Tannehill accomplished the feat at Houston on Jan. 9, 2022.
- Joined San Francisco's Brock Purdy (Oct. 8 vs. Dallas) and Miami's Tua Tagovailoa (Sept. 24 vs. Denver) as the NFL's only quarterbacks in 2023 to complete a touchdown pass in all four quarters of a game. Levis became the first Titans quarterback to accomplish the feat since at least the beginning of the 2000 season.
DB ELIJAH MOLDEN
- Started at safety and tied for third on the defense with seven tackles.
TE CHIG OKONKWO
- Tied for the team lead with four receptions and totaled 23 receiving yards.
- Took a handoff and rushed for four yards and a first down on third-and-one in the second quarter.
DT JEFFERY SIMMONS
- Tied for the team high with two sacks and added six total tackles and one forced fumble.
- Dropped Desmond Ridder for a 10-yard sack in the first quarter.
- Notched his second sack of the game against Ridder and forced a turnover in the second quarter. On Simmons' second career strip-sack, Azeez Al-Shaair recovered the fumble for the Titans, leading to a Titans touchdown on the ensuing drive.
- Increased his season total to 4.5 sacks and his career total to 25.5 sacks. He became the 11th Titans/Oilers player to reach 25 career sacks since individual sacks became an official NFL statistic in 1982.
RB TYJAE SPEARS
- Rushed for 27 yards on three carries and added three receptions for nine yards.
- Rushed for a 23-yard gain on an attempt in the fourth quarter. It was his longest rushing attempt through seven career games.
P RYAN STONEHOUSE
- Tied his career high with eight punts. It was his fourth career game with eight attempts.
- Averaged 52.5 yards per punt with a career-high six punts placed inside the 20. His net average was 46.8 yards per punt.
- Became the first punter for the team to place six punts inside the 20 in a game since Brett Kern's eight-such punts at Denver on Oct. 13, 2019.
- Helped pin the Falcons on their seven-yard line with a 64-yard punt in the second quarter. On his next attempt, he hit a 54-yarder to the seven-yard line.
S K'VON WALLACE
- Recorded one tackle on special teams in his Titans debut.
WR NICK WESTBROOK-IKHINE
- Hauled in a 33-yard touchdown pass from Will Levis in the fourth quarter. The play ultimately provided the winning margin in the 28-23 victory. It was his third touchdown reception of 2023 and his 10th career touchdown catch.
