Winless Titans Proving to be Own Worst Enemy
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.
