With a full day in the books from the Denver Broncos win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, I thought it would be a good idea to check in with the Mile High Report staff and see what was one thing they learned about the team from that game: good or bad. Among us, we came up with five things that we learned and what the Broncos could build on from there as they prepare to face the Indianapolis Colts next week.
Lions HC Dan Campbell Sends Strong Message on Plans for Flashy Rookie WR
Posted September 9, 2025
The Lions plan to increase the workload for impressive rookie wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa, right.
The Detroit Lions have big plans for rookie receiver Isaac TeSlaa.
The third-round pick out of Arkansas displayed his freakish athleticism in the final minute of Sunday’s 27-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers, making a leaping one-handed grab for a 13-yard touchdown from Jared Goff as he fell backwards out of the end zone.
It was the only catch for TeSlaa, who played just three of 67 offensive snaps behind starters Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams and No. 3 receiver Kalif Raymond in the season-opening defeat.
Moving forward, the Lions hope to feature TeSlaa more prominently.
TeSlaa Slated for Bigger Role
TeSlaa won the No. 4 receiver job in Detroit after Tim Patrick was traded to the Jaguars but missed a portion of practice last week with an illness, impacting his preparation for Week 1.
“We didn’t feel comfortable trying to load him up with stuff, and so it was going to be very limited,” head coach Dan Campbell said during Monday’s press conference. “But certainly, we’d like to use him more. There’s something there. It looks like he’s back and feels good.
“It was good to see him make a play. He was only in on three plays on offense, but he did a good job on those three. … We’re going to start trying to get him some reps.”
Lions’ Offense Struggles in Opener
Without Ben Johnson calling the shots on offense, the Lions struggled to move the ball. The Lions gained just 246 total yards and did not reach the end zone until TeSlaa’s touchdown with 55 seconds remaining.
Afterward, Campbell stated the obvious: the Lions never found their rhythm.
“The plan was to stay patient, be patient, which I thought Goff was,” Campbell said. “We took what was there and we felt like eventually those shots would show. We just couldn’t quite get to them.”
Tight end Sam LaPorta led the Lions with 79 yards on six catches, St. Brown had four catches for 45 yards, and Williams had four catches for 23 yards. Running back Jahmyr Gibbs added 10 catches for just 23 yards.
Goff finished 31-of-39 for 225 yards through the air. His 5.7 yards per attempt were his fewest since Week 8 last season against the Titans. Ironically, the Lions won that game 52-14.
Johnson, who oversaw the NFL’s highest-scoring offense in 2024 (33.2 points per game), left in January to become the Bears’ head coach.
TeSlaa Starred at the NFL Combine
TeSlaa grew up a Lions fan and started his college career close to home at Division II Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich., before transferring to Arkansas. In two seasons with the Razorbacks, he caught 62 passes for 896 yards and five touchdowns.
After an impressive performance at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, where he turned in a 4.43 second 40-yard dash, a 39.5-inch vertical leap, and led all receivers with a time of 4.05 seconds in the 20-yard shuttle, the 6-foot-4 TeSlaa was picked 70th overall by Detroit.
As for his first career touchdown catch, he told the Detroit Free Press’ Mitch Albom, “It was close. It was like bang-bang, my foot to my butt. I’m glad the foot came down first.”
5 things we learned from the Broncos in win over Titans
1. Broncos’ defense is as advertised.
I have been unloading defensive stats metrics today into The Feed section of the site. There is just a lot of data being posted to X that is fun to see related to the Broncos’ defense. We also dug into some of the defensive data today in a post aptly named the same as this first thing we learned:
Under the guidance of Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph, the Broncos’ defense shut down signal caller Cam Ward and the Titans offense. When the clock struck zero, it was total domination. They had allowed just 12 points and 133 total yards from scrimmage. Ward finished his NFL debut going 12-of-28 for 112 yards. He was sacked five times and lost a fumble. Overall, the Titans amassed just 62 net passing yards, averaged a dreadful 2 yards per play and completed only 14-percent of their third down attempts.
In the second half alone, the Titans gained a total -1 net yardage in a one-point game. There were some drops by Titans’ wide receivers, but a few of those throws from Cam Ward felt like they had zero touch and were just missiles launched out of paranoia. The Broncos pressure rate was quite literally off the charts in that game. - Tim Lynch
2. Offseason hype was way premature.
The overall team hype may have been premature. The defensive hype is somehow probably not quite enough for how good they are and can be (assuming they get Greenlaw back and stay healthy).
I didn’t see a playoff team on Sunday and hope they’ll get the offense sorted out over these next few weeks. I would put Denver below the Chargers and Kansas City so far in the division race, just based on eye test. - Jeff Essary
3. Interior OL was dominated by Titans.
Luke Wattenberg still is poor at run blocking. Jeffrey Simmons ate his lunch all game and T’Vondre Sweat destroyed him on the 4th down sneak. He has got to improve next week or defenses are going to start run blitzing him. - Joe Mahoney
4. Broncos’ offense is not as advertised.
It’s still really early in the season, and the Broncos survived a game that had numerous sloppy mistakes. The offense looked they were still in the preseason. We can’t learn much from a game like this, but we can see that neither team on the field was prepared for regular season football. Penalties and turnovers should have led to a Broncos loss, but the Titans did a lot of the same.
If they want to take care of business in Week 2 they will have to focus on holding onto the football, and limiting mistakes. Preseason is over. Hopefully, they will understand that in their second game. - Adam Malnati
5. How about Jeremy Crawshaw though?
Jeremy Crawshaw delivered a steady and efficient performance in the game against the Titans. The highlight came from his ability to control field position, pinning the Titans inside their own 20-yard line on four occasions.
We didn’t expect this performance after the preseason! Let’s see if he can improve! - Ivan Talavera
