Game Recap - The Titans fall to the Jets

Written By Jack Loeb

The Titans once again lost in inexplicable fashion. This Titans franchise is approaching dangerous territory. The most frustrating part of the 24-17 loss is the Titans had the game well in their favor up until two instances. The Titans were driving, threatening to score at the Jets six yard line. Will Levis made a bonehead move to pitch the ball backwards to Tyjae Spears — which ultimately Spears was unable to field, and the fumble was picked up by Quinnen Williams. At the very least the Titans were going to take a 10-0 lead. Luckily Aaron Rodgers and the Jets weren’t able to capitalize off the turnover. The second, and clearly the most fatal, mistake was yet again another blocked punt. Julius Chestnut made a mind numbing decision to not block the defender who is rushing towards Ryan Stonehouse. Honestly, If I’m Coach Callahan I would fire Colt Anderson (ST coach) and cut both Jack Gibbens and Julius Chestnut. Those three men are responsibly for 14 points in two games. The exact point differential of both loses that have the Titans at 0-2.

Here’s Coach Callahan postgame about the loss:

Levis made two crucial mistakes in the first half of the game. The first, we already covered, the boneheaded fumble. The second, trusting Treylon Burks. Treylon Burks has been awful. Perhaps one of the worst WR’s the Titans ever picked. When Burks is on the field bad things just end up happening. There’s no reason to trust Treylon Burks to beat double coverage over the top and actually make a contested catch. Coach Callahan also shares that blame for putting him in the game so often. Treylon Burks statline after 2 games: 1 catch 2 yards/2 carries 1 yard. Coach Callahan needs to take a long look in the mirror and ask himself what he’s doing. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine could put up better numbers than Burks and he’s wasting away on the bench. Let’s not forget rookie WR Jha’Quan Jackson who’s extremely versatile with the ball in his hands. Callahan’s personnel decisions and play calling has not been what Titans fans were expecting when Ran Carthon hired the former Bengals Offensive Coordinator. The Titans had five 3 and outs and often times looked too afraid, albeit warranted, to pass the ball when down. Regardless, the Titans have to learn to move the ball effectively. The Jets defense was more talented than Bears and the Titans found more success then last week on offense. However, if things don’t change in a positive direction fast the Titans are on a crash course to a top 10 pick and a new QB coming fall 2025.

The defense didn’t quite live up to that opening debut against the Bears, which is understandable when going up against an aging Aaron Rodgers, Breece Hall, and Garrett Wilson. The Titans allowed the Jets offense to find their way in the second half where they scored 17 points. Yes, one of the drives that led to a TD was on a short field — thank you Julius Chestnut. However, there were plenty of times late in the fourth quarter that the Titans defense did not show up when they needed to make a stop. Breece Hall found the endzone after beating Kenneth Murray Jr. on a go route. The Titans had a chance to get the ball back with the game tied 17 all. When the Titans needed Sneed the most he allowed Garrett Wilson to catch a 26 yard pass — which ultimately led to a Braelon Allen score on a 20 yard run after nearly being untouched. The Titans defense had too many miscues today. Allowing the Jets to score 17 points in 30 minutes is not a game our offense can keep up with. Which ultimately ended up being the case.

Looking at only Twitter you would have thought Levis completely botched the game. That was not the case today. Yes he made 1.5 crucial mistakes but he also had some good highlights. Especially the 41 yard pass to Calvin Ridley which tied the game at 17-17 late in the 3rd. Calvin Ridley had one hell of a day with 2 total TDs and 4 catches for 77 yards. The Titans are still in need of finding consistency on offense. One of the issues that seemed to get cleaned up for the most part was the OL. The starting OL did a decent job protecting Levis given the circumstances. NPF and Radunz seem to be the weakest links on the OL. They both gave up a sack and plenty of pressure. Tyjae Spears didn’t finish the game today after leaving to the locker room in the third quarter. Luckily the offense was just fine with Tony Pollard who had 102 yards of total offense.

What’s Next

The Titans will take on an old friend in Malik Willis (probably) as Willis looks to win back-to-back games after defeating the Colts today. Lord help us if Will Levis makes another idiotic mistake or if Malik Willis comes into Nashville and defeats the team which traded up to draft him and eventually traded away. Unfortunately, Titans will look to join that dreaded 11% of teams who start the season 0-2 and make the playoffs. One thought keeps popping in my head…

Jack Loeb https://twitter.com/jakjack91
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