We knew that heading into this season, the Tennessee Titans would only go as far as Will Levis would take them. In Week 1 against the Chicago Bears, the Titans saw a 17-0 lead evaporate, with the Bears scoring the go-ahead play on a horrible Levis interception.
The former No. 33 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft completed 19-of-32 passes for 127 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Levis made some decent plays, but not enough, and then was sloppy in the second half in what was a complete meltdown.
As such, Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay identified the need to avoid costly turnovers in his recent “1 Change Each NFL Week 1 Losing Team Must Make to Avoid 0-2 Start” article.
Here is his analysis:
The Tennessee Titans looked like they were going to handily spoil the professional debut of No. 1 overall draft pick Caleb Williams after building a 17-0 first-half lead, but the Bears took advantage of several late Tennessee mistakes to steal a “W” in Week 1.
While the Titans defense clamped down and allowed just 147 yards to Chicago’s offense, Tennessee made a slew of critical errors in the back half on both offense and special teams. The most notable of which were a blocked punt that was returned for a score and both a fumble and pick-six from second-year QB Will Levis.
Chicago notably only committed one turnover while Tennessee’s three ended up being the difference in this contest. The eight penalties and converting only 3-of-14 third downs surely didn’t help, but turnovers were the main reason the Titans wound up losing by a touchdown instead of potentially blanking this foe.
Tennessee is a young team and mistakes are bound to happen, but this level of ineptitude is inexcusable and must be fixed for the team to have any chance to win.
No doubt that Levis was under tremendous pressure all game, as the Titans offensive line struggled to slow the Bears defense.
Tennessee will go up against a Jets defense that sacked San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy three times but generated just four quarterback pressures. On paper, this should be a more favorable matchup, but New York also has to be thinking the blueprint to success is applying more pressure on Levis.
We will see if the young quarterback can make the necessary adjustments to either just take the sack or safely throw the ball away.