By BLAKE BEDDINGFIELD, special correspondent

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Chargers look great on paper. They have talented players at almost every position on their depth chart. But they also woefully underperform on the field each year.

They have a franchise-caliber quarterback, a productive running back and receivers and an offensive line that has been carefully constructed to be both pass protectors and run blockers.

On defense, the Chargers have premier pass rushers, athletic three-down inside linebackers and cover cornerbacks with ball skills and a safety who is a do-it-all all-star caliber player.  

The mix of youth and veterans is also impressive. The roster is constructed very well.  

The Titans have been a team that has taken advantage of talented but poor performers in the past. The question is if they can resist the temptation to alter their successful formula of the past.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Many concerns linger after the Titans' opening day loss in New Orleans, when Ryan Tannehill played terribly and the offense couldn't find the end zone while the defense couldn't get a stop at the crucial moments and it allowed too many big plays by the Saints.

How many of the issues we saw at the Caesars Superdome will carry over to Nissan Stadium on Sunday in the home opener against the Los Angeles Chargers?

That's the question that summarizes all the concerns.

So we gathered to talk about Tannehill, the roots of his issues in the first game and the likelihood he can correct those in Week Two as well as the odds of the Titans, who scored 15 points, being able to keep up with the Chargers, who scored 34 in a loss to Miami. The Titans lost 17-14 at Los Angeles last year. The Chargers' defense is similar. The offense is now coordinated by Kellen Moore, but could be without Austin Ekeler who's dealing with an ankle injury.

You can rewatch the excellent conversation at the private Facebook page or on YouTube which you can access below.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Ryan Tannehill got frustrated at his Wednesday press conference after taking what he felt like were too many specific questions about his complete dud in the season opener at New Orleans.

Everyone just wants to understand how things went that badly.

I'm not sure how one example or a few details about what went wrong and what he’ll be working on to fix it would have been bad for a guy whose popularity has been tumbling since a three-interception game in the Cincinnati playoff loss that ended the team's 2021 season.

He not selling anyone out if he says "I was terrible and have to be miles better" while also indicating there are some elements of the new offense that weren't exactly clean right from the beginning. [Unlocked]

By MIKE HERNDON, columnist

In a lot of ways, the Titans' opener in New Orleans felt awfully familiar. A stout run defense and active pass rush kept Mike Vrabel’s team in the game despite a woeful offensive showing, a leaky secondary, and some head-scratching coaching decisions.

In other ways, it felt remarkably different. Tennessee went 0-for-3 in the red zone, usually one of the few reliable areas of strength for the offense, and was kept in the game, in part, by a reliable kicker.

In the end, the Titans fell short, dropping their opener 16-15 to the Alvin Kamara-less Saints, which unfortunately looked to be one of the better opportunities to scratch out a win during the very tough first six weeks of the 2023 season. Tennessee will host the Chargers this week before dates with the Browns, Bengals, Colts, and Ravens before the bye.

Things ease up considerably down the stretch, so simply surviving the first month and a half at 2-4 or 3-3 would do and that kind of result is still certainly attainable, though there are absolutely some things that must be cleaned up beforehand.

The Worst: Ryan Tannehill

We’ll start with the worst from Titans-Saints and that absolutely must start with Ryan Tannehill. The veteran quarterback not only

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The NFL has created a version of football where it can be hard to know what a catch is.

And now it’s got a fumble-or-incompletion issue.

The Titans’ season ended last year when safety Rayshawn Jenkins stripped Josh Dobbs as he threw and linebacker Josh Allen returned it 37 yards for a touchdown with 2:51 left in a 20-16 Jaguars win that clinched the AFC South title. It could have been ruled an incomplete pass

Then Sunday in New Orleans in a very similar play, Arden Key hit the back of Derek Carr’s hand as he prepared to throw. His hand pushed the ball forward and it was ruled an incomplete pass. Kevin Byard scooped it up but his return was stopped by a whistle and the incomplete call was not changed to a fumble on a review initiated by Mike Vrabel.

The two plays look very similar. [Unlocked]

By BLAKE BEDDINGFIELD, special correspondent

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans are a veteran team with Ryan Tannehill, DeAndre Hopkins, Kevin Byard, Denico Autry, and Jeffrey Simmons standing out front, but the best veteran and most productive over his Titans' career, Derrick Henry, was off the field and on the sidelines for over half of the offensive snaps.

The identity of a Mike Vrabel team has been to play tough defense and tackle well, play ball-control offense and win both lines of scrimmage while controlling time of possession.

Without Henry, the team lost its identity in Week One.

NEW ORLEANS – To say Sunday was a playoff-caliber performance from Ryan Tannehill is to under-appreciate his three-interception divisional playoff game performance against the Bengals on Jan. 22, 2022 and the 165-yard dud in the Titans’ loss to Baltimore that ended their 2020 season.

Tennessee’s starting quarterback was a different level of awful Sunday against the Saints.

Poor decisions were everywhere, and while there was too much pressure around him he seemed to help create it for himself at times. Quarterbacks of winning teams find ways to make plays around and despite encroaching defenders, but Tannehill seemed flustered by them and unable to regain his regular calm though he said “I didn’t feel off.”

NEW ORLEANS -- When's the last time we came away from a Titans game wondering if they should have used Derrick Henry more?

Sunday's 16-15 loss to the Saints qualifies as such a game. He had five second-half carries for 12 yards. But more carries would have meant fewer chances for Ryan Tannehill interceptions, right?

Tannehill was a crusher in this terrible loss, one of the ugliest game in memory for a team that has no lack of a list. 

He threw three picks, two that they can say pressure factored into. But his decision-making was poor all game as he also missed two wide-open touchdowns that could have taken all the tension out of the game. The Titans could have had a plane ride back to Nashville with a 1-0 record.

They came home 0-1 and with some major questions. That revamped offense is the biggie and we discussed every angle of the game from the Superdome Sunday evening. Please rewatch it at the private Facebook page or on YouTube below.