It's easy to look at the Titans' injury disaster from 2022 and point to that as the reason for the team's failure. However, there may be another culprit that is just as responsible. 

ESPN's Bill Barnwell recently laid out what would need to happen for each NFL team to win the Super Bowl in 2023. At No. 32 are the Arizona Cardinals, who have the slimmest chances, while the Chiefs have the best chance, at No. 1. 

When it came to the Titans, Barnwell pointed out a stat that not many people were aware of. 

While most of us know how decimated the team was by injuries, Barnwell pointed out that the team just had bad injury luck all around. 

While the Titans were one of the most injured teams in the league, they played the league's healthiest slate of opposing quarterbacks. A whopping 98.8% of pass attempts against the Titans were thrown by the opposing team's primary QB. For reference, the league average is around 75%. 

Here's 2022 defenses ranked by the percentage of pass attempts they faced from their opposition's primary quarterback. (That includes clear #1s, guys who won the Week 1 job in competitions like Baker Mayfield, and guys who were clearly the starter-in-waiting like Kenny Pickett.) pic.twitter.com/UyKfOPcEo7

— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) August 17, 2023

However, there is good news. Barnwell pointed out that "defenses that were north of 95% in this category over the past two decades have improved by an average of 2.2 wins the next season."

Overall, Barnwell ranked the Titans at No. 24. However, The Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts were both ranked lower, at No. 30 and No. 31 respectively. This means the Titans have a better probability of winning their division than most teams in this range. 

The Titans will have to face a tough string of opposing QBs once again in 2023. Derek Carr, Justin Herbert, Deshaun Watson, Joe Burrow, and Lamar Jackson will all be tough tasks for this Titan defense. 

2023 Tennessee Titans final 53-man roster prediction

Predicting the Tennessee Titans’ opening roster.

Featured image via © Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK