Finally! Tennessee Titans win a game, a gutsy victory over L.A. Chargers — and other takeaways | Estes

Four rapid observations from the Tennessee Titans’ 27-24 overtime victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in Sunday’s home opener at Nissan Stadium:

The Titans win a football game

Hey look, y’all: A win!

Yeah, they needed overtime. They struggled too much offensively. Defensively, they couldn’t protect a lead in the fourth quarter. There’s still plenty of concerns (see below). But after eight consecutive defeats, the Titans just needed a result, no matter how it happened.

Props to quarterback Ryan Tannehill for bouncing back from a woeful Week 1 and making enough throws in the face of consistent pressure from the Chargers — most notably a couple of pretty deep balls and a third-down TD toss to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine with 2:22 remaining in regulation.

Props to the Titans’ defense for getting a three-and-out to start overtime after having just allowed the Chargers to drive for a game-tying field goal to end regulation. Props to Derrick Henry and Tyjae Spears for valuable touches, especially in overtime. Props to Nick Folk for the game-winning field goal just as rain had started to fall at Nissan Stadium.

And props to the Titans for finding a way to win a tight game. It had been a while.

Now to a couple of those concerns …

Concern No. 1: The Titans' offensive line

This offense remains wobbly, but it was better Sunday.

The offensive line, though? That’s going to remain a problem, isn’t it?

The Chargers had five sacks on Sunday, all of them seemingly on pivotal plays — third and fourth downs. When Tannehill had time, he made throws. But he didn’t always have time.

Pass protection issues were largely to blame for Sunday’s opening stretch in which the Titans’ offense struggled mightily and were booed by the home fans. After three possessions and 15 plays, the Titans trailed the Chargers 11-0 and offensively had 8 yards, three sacks and DeAndre Hopkins and Treylon Burks had combined for zero catches.

Finally, that changed on play No. 16, when Tannehill found Burks deep for a 70-yard completion that couldn’t have been more desperately needed. The offense was better from that point, but if the protection doesn’t improve, Tannehill is going to be lucky to make it through this season healthy.

Concern No. 2: The Titans' secondary

The Titans’ (lack of) depth at defensive back has been a concern since the preseason, and it took only a couple of weeks to put it under a microscope.

With cornerback Kristian Fulton and safety Amani Hooker absent Sunday, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert threw it around with surgical precision at the end of regulation, forcing overtime.

The Titans’ defense, much like the Saints game, wasn’t terrible. But it again allowed an opposing quarterback to exceed 300 passing yards.

In pregame, the Titans faced a choice on how to use Elijah Molden, a key depth player who’s capable of playing slot cornerback and safety. Molden ended up mostly at safety. Thus we learned that cornerback Tre Avery, who missed the Saints game with a hamstring injury, still ranks pretty high in the pecking order. Avery stepped in for Fulton, allowing Roger McCreary to continue as the slot DB.

Dillon Radunz returns in a pinch

OK, sometimes you’re just unlucky. Like Titans first-round rookie offensive lineman Peter Skoronski suddenly needing an appendectomy this past week (per NFL Network). That was an especially rare stroke of bad luck, and it forced the Titans to start Xavier Newman at left guard. It didn’t go well.

After the Titans’ first two possessions ended in sacks via pressure from Newman’s vicinity, Dillon Radunz, making his season debut in a return from injury, replaced him at left guard. Despite a key false start penalty on third down early in the fourth quarter, Radunz should probably stay in the lineup as long as Skoronski is sidelined.

Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Titans finally deliver gutsy win, plus L.A. Chargers, takeaways