Football fans, the wait is officially over. The Tennessee Titans are back and they did not disappoint... Saints fans that is.  Now that all our tears have dried up and we've drug ourselves out of bed, let's take a deeper look at the events that unfolded on Sunday with the very first edition of my newest segment here at Titans Idiot Nation,  "The Good, The Bad & The WTFugly."

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THE GOOD

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NICK FOLK WAS SO MONEY
To say that our kicking woes have been a perennial thorn in our side would be the understatement of my lifetime. Truth be told, it's almost comical how terrible we've been over the last decade with our never ending revolving door of who used to be who. Well hot damn, enter Nick Folk. His 5 for 5 performance this past Sunday in New Orleans was atypical to what we usually witness. The former New England Cheetah was in postseason form nailing kicks from all over the field including an impressive 50 yarder with room to spare. 

Fun Fact: Nick Folk is officially your 2023 NFL leading scorer. Yayyyyy!

When the Titans traded a seventh to the Pats for the veteran kicker, there was a collective sigh of relief exhaled across Nashville and outlying areas. If Sunday was any indication of what lies ahead, along with adding 22 year old former Browns fourth round LSU prospect Cade York to our practice squad, we should be putting the good foot forward for this season and beyond. 

ARDEN KEY IS A PROBLEM
Arden Key came to do two things on Sunday; chew bubble gum and wreak havoc, and apparently he forgot his bubble gum. This man was an absolute menace in the NO backfield all day long. For the game, Key tallied four tackles, 1.5 sacks, one pass deflection and was tied for the highest pass rush win rate in the NFL for Week One. That's an impressive debut. 

The former Jacksonville cast-off obviously carried a heavy chip on his shoulder when he arrived to Nashville and plans to take his frustrations out on the rest of the NFL. His high energy and positive attitude has been a welcome addition to our locker room and has significantly bolstered an already potent defensive front. I'm excited to see him potentially put up career numbers this season here in the 615. 

DHOP WAS HEAVILY INVOLVED
I don't know about you, but it was a breath of fresh air to see Deandre Hopkins involved early and continue to remain a focal point of the offense throughout the game. Sure, Ryan Tannehill was force feeding that pig skin like a Golden Corral Buffett on a Saturday night, but it's still a good sign that he led the team in targets (13), catches (7) and receiving yards (65). 

If Tannehill wasn't playing like he had just awoken from a 30 year cryogenic slumber, mute and blindfolded, trying to find his way home in a world he's never known, then Hopkins could have easily had over 100 yards and possibly a touchdown. All things considered, I'm not even the slightest bit disappointed in his two tone blue debut.

DEFENSE PUT DA TEAM ON DA BACK
The defense looked like they were posed for a Superdome shutdown until Tannehill kept placing the ball into the other teams picnic baskets. You could just see the frustration in their eyes each time they trotted back out on the field after each turnover. There's only so many times you can hold an offense with explosive weapons to field goals before they finally cross the end zone, well that is unless you're the Tennessee Titans. Sorry, I'm trying to be positive here. 

As a unit our defense recorded four sacks, forced two fumbles, notched a fumble recovery and an interception. (Again, there should have been another forced fumble and recovery for a touchdown but I'm not bitter about that even the least bit.) They applied pressure consistently disrupting the pace of the game. Unfortunately Carr was able to generally escape the pocket and find the open man as he's always proven to be an effective runner when called upon. Simmons, Autry, Key and Hooker all had impactful games while The Mayor of Murfreesboro, Kevin Byard led the team in total tackles. 

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THE BAD

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INEPT OFFENSIVE EXECUTION
Maybe it was just me, but we looked slow. Like, really slow. Or maybe it's just the fact that I'm watching Dolphins highlights right now and that whole offense looks like they're being controlled by AI. Holy shit they're fast.  Anyway, I know it's week one, but it's also week one for 31 other teams and between those other 15 games, I did see some excellent football on display.

Again, I wasn't expecting us to put up 60 points. But even though we're installing a new offensive scheme, I still felt like we were laying a blueprint for nearly every damn play. Aside from the few gadget calls that should have resulted in chunk yardage or even touchdowns, it was an overall pretty lackluster performance. 2 stars on Yelp. 

VRABEL PLAYING IT SAFE
Vrabes... my man. What dafuq was that? Mr. "I'd cut my d*ck off to win a Superbowl." Slow down there, wild man! You're the same maverick that goes for it EVERY TIME whether it makes sense or not! It's in your DNA! But now all of the sudden you assume we have a reliable kicker and you're trying to play it safe?

We 5000% should have went for the win and it's impossible for anyone to argue against it, but then again, he's won the NFL Coach of the Year award and most of us are playing Madden in the same underwear we wore yesterday with Cheeto dust covered fingers and controllers.  

QUESTIONABLE PLAY-CALLING
I'm not saying that Tim Kellys' debut as a play-caller for the Tennessee Titans was terrible by any means, I'm just saying there were more than a few plays where I was left scratching my head. It was a mixed bag of old and new, but overall I was left underwhelmed. The trick plays were cute, but I need to see more smash mouth football so we can establish the play action pass.

In the beginning I liked that we were mixing things up a little, especially since Henry was slashing and gashing them for chunk yardage out the gate, it was like a Wes Craven film out there at first. but then every time I came back from grabbing a beer, Henry was just chilling on the sidelines like his stomach hurt. That man is the focal point of this offense until he is no longer a member of this team and that's the bottom line, cause TI said so. 

THE REFS STUNK UP THE SUPERDOME
I'm not saying it's the refs fault for our inept offensive execution and our inexcusable turnovers, but if you're going to say that the "incomplete pass" from Carr wasn't a fumble and a touchdown return to shift the momentum in favor of the Titans, then I guess you never watched the 2023 AFC South Championship battle between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans? 

Oh you didn't? Well, I understand since we both are small market teams in what is historically the worst division in the entire NFL but to make a long story short, we got robbed again. Like I said I'm not blaming the refs for the total loss, because that would be asinine,  but that mishap cost us the game considering the Saints were able to notch three points off the bonehead call.

THE WTFUGLY??!!

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TANNEHILL'S PERFORMANCE FOR THE AGES
Bruh like wuuuuuuuuut was that? Look, I get it. Being a quarterback in the NFL is a thankless job because everyone is a critic. But if Tannehill was trying to silence his haters, it's like he said "F*ck that Bengals game, I'm gonna give them one to talk about for the rest of my career."

Look... I'm always in this mans corner because he no doubt gives us the best opportunity to win, especially at this very moment in franchise history. But whatever you call that on Sunday was enough to make me really take a look in the mirror and ask myself, "Who's the idiot here, you or me?" This man is going to have to right the ship quickly because we all know the Titans fan base doesn't have much patience. 

Touting less that 200 yards with three interceptions and zero touchdowns, it was statistically the worst game for Tannehill as a member of the Tennessee Titans. Again, I don't see how anything could be worse than what we all witnessed this past Sunday, but I'm also hoping that Voodoo curse didn't travel back to Nashville with the team. Titan up!