Tennessee Titans linebacker Arden Key (49) runs onto the field before the Titans play the Bengals at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Titans Need Moore From Pass Rush vs. Texans

Originally posted on Tennessee Titans on SI
By Luke Hubbard | Last updated Sep 25, 2025 4:00 PM ET

The Tennessee Titans are off to an incredibly slow start to the season. They're 0-3 and have an average margin of defeat of 14.33 points.

Part of the reason for the Titans' slow start has been their defense, which is giving up 31.3 points per game, which ranks 30th in the NFL. Their secondary has given up a lot of big plays in the pass game, but their biggest issue is their pass rush. Through three games, the Titans are averaging 0.7 sacks per game, which is 31st in the league.

The Titans have just two players with a pass rush grade over 62.0 on PFF. Jeffery Simmons has a 90.8 with 13 pressures, seven hurries and one sack while Amani Hooker, the Titans' starting safety, has an 86.0 with four pressures and a sack. When your second-best pass rusher is a safety, you know you have problems up front.

Outside of Simmons, the rest of the Titans' defensive line has logged just 18 pressures this season. Arden Key leads the way with five, and Jihad Ward and Olu Oladejo are right behind him with four.

To be quite honest, that's completely unacceptable. For how much the Titans have invested up front, they're getting little to no return on their investment. They must find a way to be more effective up front, or else this defense is going to continue to struggle. Defensive backs can only hold up for so long, so the longer you give the opposing quarterback to survey the field, the more he's going to hurt you.

This weekend, the Titans get a Texans team that has really struggled to protect C.J. Stroud. He's been sacked eight times in three games and has been pressured on 37.4% of his drop backs. When he's had a clean pocket, Stroud has played really well, throwing for 430 yards and two touchdowns behind a 68.3% completion percentage. But when he's under pressure, he's struggled a lot.

When under pressure, Stroud has completed just 55% of his throws for 169 yards and two interceptions. He's prone to making mistakes when he doesn't have a clean pocket, so if the Titans want to make sure he and the Texans' wideouts don't kill them, they need to get after Stroud.

Fortunately for Tennessee, this is the most vulnerable offensive line they've faced all year, so if they're going to get pressure on a quarterback, it's going to be Stroud. However, their defensive front has shown no reason to believe they'll be able to pressure him consistently, so it wouldn't be surprising if the Texans have a big day offensively.

This article first appeared on Tennessee Titans on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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