Titans snatch victory behind Harold Landry's late heroics
NASHVILLE — When the Tennessee Titans (1-1) and Los Angeles Chargers (0-2) kicked off on Sunday afternoon, it had been 623 days since outside linebacker Harold Landry III last played in a regular season game at Nissan Stadium. After recording 12 sacks and being selected to the Pro Bowl in 2021, Landry missed the entire 2022 […]
NASHVILLE — When the Tennessee Titans (1-1) and Los Angeles Chargers (0-2) kicked off on Sunday afternoon, it had been 623 days since outside linebacker Harold Landry III last played in a regular season game at Nissan Stadium.
After recording 12 sacks and being selected to the Pro Bowl in 2021, Landry missed the entire 2022 season with a torn ACL that he suffered in practice. While Landry had been off to a sluggish start in 2023, the 27-year-old made his first big play when his team needed it most.
With 20 seconds remaining in the game, Justin Herbert and the Chargers were facing a 3rd-and-3 from inside the 10. Protecting a 24-21 lead, the Titans' defense had its back against the wall and needed to make a stop. It was the perfect time for Landry to beat his defender and record his first sack of the season.
Following the sack, Los Angeles settled for a field goal and pushed the game into overtime. The Titans would later win, 27-24 on a 41-yard field goal from Nick Folk.
"It felt awesome. Honestly, it was relief. I just needed to get that first one under my belt this year," Landry told me in the locker room after the game. "It couldn't have come at a better time. I wish I could have got one sooner in the game, but it came at the right time."
In the season opener against New Orleans, Landry didn't make much noise. The same thing was true for most of the game against the Chargers. Some of that can probably be attributed to rust, but Landry pressing to make plays certainly didn't help.
"Last game and probably early on in this game I have a tendency, I just want to make the plays. I can end up pressing sometimes and trying to make plays that aren't there for me to make," said Landry on Sunday.
Think of it like a baseball player who is stuck at 499 home runs or a soccer player who tries to aim the perfect penalty kick. The more you think about it, the less likely it is to happen.
Like most pass rushers, Landry is at his best when he is playing free and loose. That's why Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons has been encouraging Landry to let the game come to him. Simmons has been telling Landry all week to "make the plays that come his way." His on Sunday was a perfect example of that.
Landry has received a ton of support from his Titans' teammates. While he was recovering from his ACL surgery, Landry leaned on starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill to share experiences with someone that could relate to him. Tannehill, who tore his ACL as a member of the Miami Dolphins in 2016, knows better than anyone what Landry had been going through.
"It’s so fun. I was just talking to him in the locker room. I'm proud of the way he battled through," said Tannehill when I asked him about Landry's big play. "It doesn’t get any bigger than that, where our backs are against the wall there on defense, we needed a stop in order to force it into overtime, Harold (Landry) comes up huge and makes a big play.
"Everything he’s went through, all the ups and downs of rehabbing and how hard that is, to see him go out there and make a play in that critical situation, is a lot of fun for me and I know we appreciate him as a team," Tannehill told me.
The Titans improved to 1-1 with the overtime win on Sunday. Tennessee will take on the Cleveland Browns next Sunday looking to build off the positive vibes of a hard-fought win.
Hopefully Landry continues to build off Sunday's performance as well. It would make the Titans' defense even more dangerous than it already is.
