According to many of the defensive players, the theme for this season is to play with a hunter's mentality. Although they gave up two large plays at the start of their first drive, the tough mentality came through as the Chargers first team defense was able to brush off the first game jitters and limit the Titans to just three points through the two stints on the field.
New Chargers Dwight Lowery and Casey Hayward both made their presence known on the first series. Despite giving up a play of 31-yards, Lowery laid a hard hit on Tajae Sharpe to stop his momentum. On 3rd-and-six, Marcus Mariota escaped a tackle and was able to connect with Andre Johnson. However, Casey Hayward immediately met Johnson and tackled him for no gain on the play.
On the second series, familiar Chargers faces on the defense made plays to force a quick three-and-out. Melvin Ingram instantly met DeMarco Murray to stifle the RB for a loss on the first play. On the next, Jason Verrett quickly converged on the RB to limit his gain to only three yards.
Denzel Perryman led the first team defense with two total tackles while Ingram, Verrett Hayward, Addae, Mager and Lowery each had one.
