Teams: Tennessee at Denver
When: Sunday, 2:05 p.m. MST
TV: Fox
BetMGM NFL odds: Broncos by 8.
Series record: Titans lead 24-16-1.
Titans player to watch
Quarterback Cam Ward. The Titans used the No. 1 overall draft pick on the game's premier position. If he's going to be their franchise player, what better way to kick things off than with a win at Denver?
Broncos player to watch
Outside linebacker Nik Bonitto is fresh off signing a four-year extension worth up to $120 million. He had a career year in 2024 in his first season as a full-time starter and had 13 1/2 sacks.
Key matchup
Ward vs. Denver's defense that led the league last season with a franchise-record 63 sacks. Ward is the first rookie quarterback the Broncos have faced in a season opener since the 1970 merger. Since 2000, the Broncos are 15-10 against rookie quarterbacks. The Broncos lost twice to rookie quarterbacks in Sean Payton's first season in 2023 (C.J. Stroud and Aidan O'Connell). Last season they beat New Orleans rookie Spencer Rattler.
Key injuries
Titans: Left tackle Dan Moore Jr. did not practice Wednesday with an ankle injury. The bigger concern is Cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, who was limited by a knee injury that put him on the physically unable to perform list to start training camp. He didn’t return until Aug. 20. Sneed only played in five games last season. Rookie safety Kevin Winston Jr. is dealing with a hamstring injury.
Broncos: Free agent acquisition and inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw (quad) has been bothered all offseason and won't play Sunday. Neither will defensive tackle Malcolm Roach, who left Thursday's practice with a strained calf. Tight end Nate Adkins is out after undergoing ankle surgery this summer.
Series notes
The teams met three times in the playoffs when the Titans were based in Houston and known as the Oilers. The Broncos won two of those games. The most noteworthy matchup between the Broncos and Titans occurred on Dec. 11, 2016, which Tennessee won 13-10.
Titans wide receiver Harry Douglas had a questionable block Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr., prompting cornerback Aqib Talib to go on a rant in the locker room afterward, when he quipped, “It was a dirty play. By a sorry player. He don't do nothing. He come to the game, don't catch no passes. He come to the game and chop guys from the back. And he done got the same agent as me, so when I see (him) in Atlanta, I'm gonna beat (him up).”
Stats and stuff
Ward is the third No. 1 overall draft pick in the Oilers/Titans franchise history, joining John Matuszak in 1973 and Pro Football Hall of Famer Earl Campbell in 1978.
The only rookie quarterback to win a season opener since 2019 is Chicago's Caleb Williams last season.
Running back Tony Pollard is the only NFL running back besides Baltimore's Derrick Henry with at least 1,300 scrimmage yards and at least five touchdown runs in each of the past three seasons. Wide receiver Calvin Ridley is coming off his third 1,000-yard season. Wide receiver Tyler Lockett joined the Titans after a decade in Seattle. Defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons had 11 tackles for loss and five sacks last season. He recovered a fumble in his only game against Denver in 2020.
Former Broncos returning Sunday with the Titans are: linebacker Dre'mont Jones, linebacker Cody Barton and center Lloyd Cushenberry.
Broncos quarterback Bo Nix threw for 29 touchdowns his rookie year, two shy of Justin Herbert's rookie record. His 376 completions were the third most by a rookie in NFL history. Running back J.K. Dobbins will make his Denver debut after setting a career high with 1,058 scrimmage yards last season with the Chargers.
Wide receiver Courtland Sutton led the Broncos with 1,081 yards and eight touchdowns in 2024. Tight end Evan Engram makes his Denver debut after spending the past three seasons in Jacksonville. Linebacker Jonathon Cooper set a career high with 10 1/2 sacks last season. Defensive end Zach Allen is coming off a breakout season in which he had 15 tackles for loss and 8 1/2 sacks. ... Defensive end John Franklin-Myers had a career-best seven sacks in his first season in Denver last year.
Cornerback Patrick Surtain II gets to wear the NFL's new gold patch after earning the AP Defensive Player of the Year award in 2024 when he had four interceptions and 11 pass breakups. ... Safety Talanoa Hufanga, who makes his Denver debut after four seasons in San Francisco, was elected a captain this week.
