For decades, Tennessee Titans fans have been used to a specific style of offense. From Jeff Fisher to Mike Vrabel, Titans coaches have always heavily emphasized running the ball and complementing that with efficient, conservative quarterback play.
Running the ball effectively is a great tool to have in your bag, but the running game will never be the emphasis of the offense while Cam Ward is the quarterback. That is a good thing, but it will force fans to relearn how to watch Brian Callahan's offense.
Instead of panicking when a quarterback throws an interception, Titans fans are going to have to accept that as a more common occurrence when you have a gunslinger quarterback leading your offense. Coach Callahan wanted to field a similar offense last season, but quickly learned that Mason Rudolph and Will Levis couldn't be trusted.
Successful Cam Ward Week 1 debut means more explosives than turnovers
From now on, "risk and reward" is the name of the game, and a turnover is acceptable every now and then as long as Ward is also using his arm to create explosive plays at a much higher rate. That brings us to the crux of this point, which is that Titans fans need to switch from the mentality of someone investing in a 401 (k) to the mentality of a gambler. The game isn't about steady returns anymore; it's about jackpots.
For defenses playing against a quarterback like Ward, you can never relax because he will stress defenses by making them cover every blade of grass. He is the type of quarterback who likes to read the field from the deepest option and work his way to his checkdowns, instead of some quarterbacks who live for seven-yard completions over the middle of the field.
That mentality doesn't just create more big plays down the field; it opens up things underneath and in the running game. If a defense knows that Ward prefers to throw a deep ball, they are going to try to take that away by playing as few single-high safety looks as possible. The deeper the defense plays to stop big plays to boundary receivers like Calvin Ridley and Elic Ayomanor, the more space there is for players like Tony Pollard, Tyjae Spears, Chig Okonkwo, Tyler Lockett, Gunnar Helm, and others to create separation in the short to intermediate areas.
While stats like completion percentage and time of possession are still going to be relatively important, Ward's Titans will be more focused on how many explosive plays they can generate compared to how many turnovers they suffer.
More than anything else, Ward's growth, effectiveness, and impact will be best measured by how many 10+ yard runs and 20+ yard receptions this offense is able to create. Ward's aggressiveness is intended to generate more explosives than turnovers.
That starts with a game on the road against the Denver Broncos, a defense that was one of the best in the NFL at creating turnovers last year. It will be a trial by fire by Ward, but if he can do well in the explosives-turnover department in Week 1, it will be a great sign of what is to come for the rest of the season and beyond.
Even if the Titans attempt to ease Ward in and lean on the running game in Week 1, his gunslinger reputation should force defensive backs to open things up in the run game. If not, it will be up to Ward to make them pay with deep play-action passes. That is the game within the game that Titans fans need to watch, and even if he throws an interception, pay attention to how many explosive plays the team can create because you are never out of the game with a gunslinger.