In the 1972 classic children’s book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst, we follow the story of young Alexander, as his day just keeps going downhill. Tennessee Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan can probably relate to Alexander’s plight, as his day against the Cardinals in the season opener for both teams started out badly, and kept getting worse. The Titans received the opening kickoff, and Lewan had to deal with edge defender Chandler Jones, who missed the final 11 games of the 2020 season due to injury after getting 19 sacks the year before.
It took no time at all for Jones to handle Lewan, and give 2020 rushing leader Derrick Henry his own nightmare fuel to start the season.
So, let’s talk about Jones’ three first-quarter sacks, which, per the Elias Sports Bureau, has never happened before in the opening quarter of a regular season. The first, with 8:36 left in the first quarter, came from the defensive left side for an unblocked Jones, which is something you never want to have happen. Tackle Corey Peters picked up Ryan Tannehill’s fumble and fell just short of the end zone.
Jones’ other two first-quarter sacks were all on Lewan, though. With 5:19 left in the first quarter, Lewan proved incapable of dealing with Jones’ furious turn around the edge, and that was that for Tannehill.
And with 1:06 left in the first quarter, it was third verse, same as the second.
It’s important to note that Lewan is no mere humpty — he’s a three-time Pro Bowler, and though he was limited to just five games in 2020, he hasn’t allowed more than two sacks in a season since 2017. Which means that Chandler Jones gave Lewan his season total in less than one quarter of regulation football.