Winless Titans Proving to be Own Worst Enemy

September 16, 2024

Rick Nyman,

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Punt blocked. Ugly fumble by the young quarterback. An interception. Rinse and repeat with the exact same 24-17 score and only the opponent and location are different.

The result is an 0-2 start for the Tennessee Titans under first-year coach Brian Callahan. Making it worse is they had leads in both games, including their home-opening 24-17 loss to the New York Jets.

“We’ve been in position to win both of these games, and ultimately our own errors have put us at a detriment and we haven’t been able to win because of that,” Callahan said Monday. “And so we have to clean up those things.”

The Titans have lots of company at 0-2 in the struggling AFC South with Houston (2-0) the only team in the division with a win or winning record early. The problem is Tennessee now has lost 20 of 26 games after firing a coach and spending tens of millions of dollars in the offseason to fix these problems.

Those changes both on the staff and on the roster are why Callahan remains confident the Titans can make the adjustments needed to be a good team this season. He was offensive coordinator at Cincinnati the past two seasons when the Bengals (0-2) finished with winning records despite starting 0-2.

“I don’t panic, we just keep pushing and we keep our blinders on,” Callahan said.

What’s working

Defense. The Titans have allowed both a league-low 206.5 total yards per game and 114 yards passing a game through two games. When quarterback Will Levis lost a fumble, they forced Aaron Rodgers and the Jets into a three-and-out. Where they have to do a better job is get the ball back with only one takeaway.

Defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson was hired to help improve a defense that had a league-low six interceptions last season. The Titans have recovered one fumble, and cornerback Chido Awuzie, one of seven new starters on defense, said they’ve had their opportunities.

The offense. The Titans had five three-and-outs with turnovers ending three other drives quickly in the opener. They went three-and-out five more times against the Jets.

Tennessee has scored exactly 17 points each in the first two games, nearly a point fewer than the team averaged all of 2023.

Stock up

Harold Landry. The outside linebacker, who earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2021 with a career-high 12 sacks, is off to a strong start. He missed 2022 with a torn ACL but rebounded with 10 1/2 sacks last season. He’s already got three sacks, tied for third most in the NFL entering Monday.

Stock down

Levis. The second-year quarterback has five turnovers in the span of three quarters. His fumble in field-goal range against the Jets led Callahan to curse at Levis and was caught by TV cameras. Callahan said he thought they had coached Levis to help him make better decisions and avoid “unforced errors.”

Callahan also now realizes he’s being watched more closely by cameras than when he was offensive coordinator in Cincinnati. Not that he regrets his emotions in that moment because he coaches Levis hard.

“I think he’s accepting of that coaching,” Callahan said.

Injuries

RB Tyjae Spears hurt an ankle. But the Titans can’t blame injuries the way they did the past three seasons when their report was lengthy even in the first month of the season.

Key number

2 — The number of blocked punts with one in each of the first two games. Callahan said he can’t remember seeing that happen in the NFL, and it is rare.

The Titans became only the fifth team to have a punt blocked in consecutive games in the past 20 years. They joined the Chargers (2012 and 2020), Washington (2012) and Miami (2010) in that group.

On Sunday, they’ll try to avoid joining the 1990 Browns and 1986 Packers as the only teams since 1960 to have a punt blocked in three straight games.

Next steps

Stop turning the ball over and protect the punter better first. The Titans have two games to reach .500 at their bye. They host Green Bay on Sunday with Malik Willis, whom they traded to the Packers in August, possibly starting at quarterback coming off a win.

Then they go to Miami for a prime-time game Sept. 30 with the Dolphins having quarterback questions after Tua Tagovailoa’s latest concussion.