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Turron Davenport, ESPNSep 9, 2024, 03:29 PM ET
- Turron Davenport covers the Tennessee Titans for ESPN. Turron is a former collegiate football player at Cheyney University and is a native of Philadelphia, and he has authored/co-authored four books. You can catch Turron on ESPN Radio on his show “Talking with TD” and you can follow him on Twitter: @TDavenport_NFL.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — What appeared to be a season-opening victory for the Tennessee Titans was completely put to bed as quarterback Will Levis dropped to his knees and placed his hands on his head.
Levis’ gesture occurred after a desperate attempt to get rid of the football during what he described after the game as a “boneheaded play.” The Titans were facing a third-and-6 as they clung to a 17-16 lead at their 45-yard line with 7:35 left in the game.
Chicago dialed up a blitz that sent nickel corner Kyler Gordon after Levis. Gordon flushed Levis right into the waiting hands of DeMarcus Walker.
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“Just take the sack next time kid,” Walker said on social media after the game.
Rather than take the sack, Levis tried to throw the ball away and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson picked it off, returning it 43 yards for what would be the winning score.
The Bears went from trailing 17-0 to scoring 24 unanswered points.
“We were playing so good on defense,” Titans coach Brian Callahan said Monday. “It’s almost as if we just punted it on first-and-10 every time, we might’ve won the game the way that we gave it away.”
The Titans’ defense, led by new coordinator Dennard Wilson, held the Bears to 148 yards of total offense and no touchdowns.
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Callahan was confident he could rely on his defense, and he said he had a conversation with Levis about not trying to force anything when they were on the sideline near the end of the third quarter.
“It was like, ‘Look, they haven’t done anything on offense. Our defense is playing lights-out. We don’t have to be exceptional on offense right now. We’re still trying to go score, but limiting the errors is what’s going to win us this game,'” Callahan said.
Excluding a blocked punt that Bears defensive back Jonathan Owens returned for a touchdown, punter Ryan Stonehouse was averaging 53.6 yards.
It was the first time Callahan got to see Levis in a true game environment. Callahan praised the second-year quarterback for his resilience, demeanor and ability to see and communicate what he was seeing.
He understood what Levis was trying to do, but stressed to the young quarterback that he can’t make a bad play worse. Learning to know when the journey is over is something Callahan and the Titans staff have been working to get Levis to understand.
Callahan likened the current situation with Levis to his early days as the Cincinnati Bengals‘ offensive coordinator working with Joe Burrow.
Brian Callahan and the Titans fell just short in his head-coaching debut. Stacy Revere/Getty Images
“[Burrow] was very similar,” Callahan said. “He would hold the ball, take unnecessary risks, take a lot of hits early in his career — in his first two years — and he learned very quickly that that’s not a sustainable way to play football. You keep trying to get guys to understand the message and at some point, it clicks and makes sense and the light bulb goes on.”
Instead of his coaching debut getting off to a 1-0 start and breaking a three-year Titans losing streak in openers, Tennessee allowed the Bears to become the first team in NFL history to win a game in which they trailed by at least 17 points and had fewer than 150 total yards.
In turn, a banner day for the Titans’ defense turned into Caleb Williams becoming the first quarterback selected No. 1 to get a Week 1 debut win since David Carr of the Houston Texans in 2002. Williams did it despite passing for only 93 yards.
Things don’t look like they will get any easier for Levis and the offense in Week 2 with the New York Jets coming to Nissan Stadium for the home opener Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS). The Jets allowed the third-fewest yards per game (292.3) last season.
The Titans hope they can see more of the Levis who led them to three straight scoring drives Sunday — otherwise they could be staring at an 0-2 deficit.
