The Tennessee Titans were able to sweep the Indianapolis Colts in 2022 with their 19-10 victory in Week 7. It was an ugly performance for the Titans offensive group, as they scored zero touchdowns on the day.
However, in fairness to the offense, they made some big plays late and did enough to secure the win. Some of those big plays late in the game came from veteran tight end, Austin Hooper.
Hooper was signed this offseason, and the move with met with close to unanimous approval from the fan base.
Hooper symbolized a re-vamped tight end group that would hopefully result in a better offense and, mostly, less Geoff Swaim. Unfortunately, that hasn’t panned out.
Hooper was relatively silent through the first six weeks of the season, only recording six catches for 55 yards and blocking so poorly we still got a hefty dose of Swaim every week.
While Hooper’s blocking probably won’t improve, at least he has the receiving chops to work as a more talented Anthony Firkser — and that is EXACTLY what we saw on Sunday.
Hooper still has the ability to use his big frame and hands to make tough catches and can still move enough to make a guy miss. He used all his tools to make big-time plays for the Titans against Indy in the second half.
Hooper’s three catches totaled half of his catches on the season to that point, and his 56 yards were one more than he had the five games previous.
All three of his catches went for first downs AND all of his catches helped setup the final six points of the game for the Titans. Those six points were so valuable because having Indy down by six or nine points as compared to only three changes the way they play offense.
Hooper hasn’t had a great start to the year, but he still has time to make an impact and if this Titans team wants to improve at all on offense this year, Hooper will surely need to repeat this.
As always, let’s dive into the film room and take a look at how he did it.