NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Titans want Will Levis to be their franchise quarterback for years to come, but once again Sunday he was outdueled, this time by a veteran backup, in a 2017 loss that drops the Titans to 1-4 on the season and raises serious questions about the direction of this offense.
Levis did enough as a rookie in a run-first Titans offense to earn the right to prove he can be the team’s long-term solution at the most important position on the field.
The Titans then fired the defensive-minded Mike Vrabel and replaced him with Brian Callahan, an offensive coach that’s had success with multiple big-name quarterbacks. General Manager Ran Carthon then spent big money in free agency trying to boost up the offense around him.
But through five games this season Levis has failed to take a step forward and the offense is yet to get off the ground, scoring just 17 points for the third time this season Sunday. There were moments.
The Titans capitalized on a short field after Amani Hooker’s interception in the first quarter with Levis’s touchdown pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine on the receiver’s first target of the season. They also drove 70 yards in 14 plays to start the third quarter, capped by a 23-yard touchdown run by Tony Pollard that caught the Colts defense asleep on a third and 19 when they were expecting pass.
Pollard has been the one big name Titans offensive player who has been effective this season. He had 93 more yards Sunday. The big-name receiver trio of DeAndre Hopkins, Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd have been just ordinary players wearing navy and Columbia blue this season.
On Sunday they combined for just seven catches, none by Ridley, who delivered a profanity-laced rant in the locker room postgame, demanding that he gets the ball earlier in games in order to become more of the offense after signing a four-year, $92 million contract in the offseason.
Ridley did get eight targets, mostly in the fourth quarter, including a drop. He was also the target on Levis’s league-leading seventh interception of the season.
It was a well-designed concept that got the speedy Ridley into a one-on-one matchup on the outside with a single-high safety but Levis was late on the throw, double-clutching in the pocket and then getting hit as he threw a badly underthrown ball that was picked off by Julian Blackmon who came from the opposite hashmark to make the play.
In all, the Titans managed just one first down after their touchdown drive to begin the second half. Levis completed 16 of 27 passes for the afternoon but went just 3-10 in the fourth quarter and ended up with just 93 passing yards against a Colts defense that came into the game rank 29th in the NFL in pass defense.
Meanwhile, Indianapolis turned to 39-year-old Joe Flacco once again and he delivered with a 189-yard, two touchdown performance on the road.
The former Super Bowl MVP led the Colts on four scoring drives of 10 plays or more as they overcame the absences of their supposed franchise quarterback Anthony Richardson and star running back Jonathan Taylor.
Josh Downs looks like a growing weapon with seven catches for 66 yards, including a leaping 22-yard touchdown in the first quarter. And Michael Pittman Jr. looked like a no. 1 receiver, despite the fact some thought he might be headed for injured reserve with a bad back earlier in the week.
The fifth-year receiver had three catches for 35 yards, drew a 33-yard pass interference penalty on the Titans’ top cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, and then used his 6’4 frame to outjump Sneed for a 10-yard touchdown that proved to be the difference.
The Colts have their own quarterback decision to make. Right now it appears that Flacco is more well-suited than the injury-prone and turnover-riddled Anthony Richardson to get a 3-3 team going and perhaps into the Wild Card race.
But head coach Shane Steichen and G.M. Chris Ballard selected Richardson with a top five pick two springs ago, meaning they have a heavy investment in getting everything they can out of him when he is healthy enough to play.
The situation is worse for the Titans, at least in the short term. Levis isn’t playing winning football, and neither is the offense.
Tennessee’s one win came when Levis got hurt on the second drive in Miami two weeks ago and backup Mason Rudolph led them to a 31-12 victory.
The Titans want to see exactly what they have in Levis right now, so Callahan and his staff can decide whether he’s a guy they can win with moving forward or if Carthon needs to find them a new QB in the offseason. That’s why it will remain Levis’s team even if Rudolph may give them a better chance to win right now.
But that also means time may be running out on this season.
The Titans play at Buffalo and Detroit the next two weeks, and face the very real possibility of ending October at 1-6 unless Levis and this offense all of a sudden find their stride.
