Post Game Reaction— The Titans Lose to the Colts

Written By Jack Loeb

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, the Titans go ahead and blow another game they should’ve won. The Titans' loss now has them at 1-4. Even the best of the sunshine pump brigade will have to admit that the Titans are no longer in play for the postseason. The season is over, and it's mainly due to two men.

The first person responsible for the horrendous start to the season is Will Levis. He was awful today with less than 100 yards and 1 TD. Yes, he had several passes dropped by Calvin Ridley late in the game and the DPI on Hopkins that was not called, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that 1. He’s a threat to turn the ball over at any given time, see the three dropped interceptions by Indy and the one caught INT late in the game, and 2. The offense clearly cannot run through him distributing the ball to our playmakers. Which leads into the second problem with this team.

Brian Callahan has been atrocious. He was brought in to help Will Levis become a better passer of the football, and all of a sudden, he miraculously turns into the worst QB this franchise has seen since Zach Mettenberger. He’s now 1-4 as a head coach and he looks to be way out of his depth. It’s not just the offense that is atrocious, it’s the defense too. The defense is less of an issue than the offense but it’s still a really big problem, and I’ll get to that later. For now, the Titans are much of the same Titans offensively as they were last year or even worse off. Sure, the Titans didn’t give up any sacks today, but that’s probably because the Colts were forcing Will Levis to beat them, and they knew he can’t. The same can be said of Callahan. He called an immensely conservative game plan, and slowly but surely, that strategy kept the Colts in the game. By then, it was too late, and the Titans' offense couldn’t get in sync with Levis. Surely Callahan had to know that throwing the ball near the line of scrimmage the entire game isn’t how you win a football game. However, given how awful Levis is playing, you almost can’t blame him. However, I’ll do that for you. Callahan was brought to Tennessee so he could make Levis into a better passer. Levis showed he had all those tools and traits last year. Now, he looks like a completely different player — and not in a good way. Outside of completion percentage, Levis’s stats are down across the board: YPG, TD:INT ratio, aDOT, etc. It’s bad, and I’m going to lay the blame at Brian Callahan. The offense couldn’t even snap the ball before the clock hit zero after calling a timeout because they couldn’t snap the ball before it hit zero. This team is a disaster, and the season is absolutely over. This fanbase deserves so much more than losing to 39-year-old Joe Flacco, who was clearly the best QB on the field today.

Coach Callahan said early in the week to Kayla Anderson, reporter for the NFL, that, “I’ve got to do a better job of finding ways to get Calvin the ball.” Yet, Callahan rarely used Ridley except for an end-around that gained 9 yards. Later, it wouldn’t be until late in the 4th quarter that he tried to get Ridley involved. However, Ridley couldn’t come down with several passes that hit him in the hands. That’s inexcusable to be paying Ridley over $20M, and you can’t find ways to utilize his skillset, and he can’t catch a football. This offense is an absolute travesty, and much of the blame rests at Callahan’s feet. Ridley’s post-game comments cement the feeling that Callahan was playing too conservatively and not allowing Levis and Ridley to get in rhythm early in the game. This could be a potentially serious issue going forward if Ridley becomes more disgruntled.

The Titans' defense was very underwhelming today. They didn’t record a sack of 39-year-old Joe Flacco, and L’Jarius Sneed looked more like Coty Sensabaugh than the Pro Bowl CB we saw last year. This team is a mess from top to bottom, and there doesn’t seem to be a solution in sight. After coming off the bye week, I expected the team to look better than the team that went into the bye 1-3. That was not the case today when they consistently gave up 3rd and longs or committed dumb penalties to keep the offense moving. Dennard Wilson needs to have a serious talk with L’Jarius Sneed after earlier in the week calling him, “The NFL’s best CB.” Sneed has been the most underwhelming player on the entire Titans team by far. The Titans traded a 3rd round pick and signed him to a monster contract only for him to get burn by: Ashton Dulin, Alec Pierce, and Michael Pittman. The Titans are in an impossible bind for the short term as it pertains to playing competitive football.

I’m not sure how Coach Callahan survives this year. He’s very likely to miss earning 7 wins, and the Titans may once again be faced with 6-11 after firing Mike Vrabel for the same feat with a MUCH less talented roster. QB is one problem, sure, but that’s why Callahan was brought in — to help Will Levis develop. The proof is in the pudding, and he has made Levis regress so much so that the Titans fanbase as a whole is contemplating drafting a QB with their soon-to-be top 10 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Things are bad. I was ringing the fire alarm after the Titans were 0-3, and I wasn’t moved much by the MNF win over the hapless Dolphins. This Titans team is in utter disarray, and I don’t recall it ever being this bad — especially with such a stellar roster on paper. Alas, here the Titans sit after week six, and they’re 1-4 and headed to upstate New York to take on the Bills.


What’s Next

The Titans will take on the Bills in 7 days in which I’m sure more of the same will be evident against a Bills team that is much better than the Colts, Bears, Dolphins, Jets, and Packers. Abandon All Hope Ye’ Who Enter…this season is absolutely over and the Titans will once again look for a new QB and more likely be looking for a new QB as well.

Jack Loeb https://twitter.com/jakjack91
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