The Tennessee Titans opened the season with a 23-10 loss to the New York Jets and produced only 195 total yards of total offense. Their only touchdown came with 2:42 remaining, long after the game had been decided.
Cam Ward finished 19-of-32 for 140 yards and one touchdown. He avoided an interception, but his 52.8 PFF passing grade matched how limited the offense looked. One playmaker Ward and Brian Daboll never get involved on offense was veteran wide receiver Calvin Ridley.
According to PFF, Ridley was on the field for 26 passing snaps and ran 25 routes. That amounted to a 96.2% route-participation rate, yet he finished without an official target. His playing time wasn’t the issue. The Titans barely attacked downfield and never made Ridley part of the passing game.
Tennessee Titans offense fails to involve Calvin Ridley in Week 1
The lack of involvement stands out even more when you look at what Ridley did with Ward last season. In seven games, he caught 17 passes for 303 yards and averaged 17.8 yards per catch. Injuries limited his season, but the Titans still found ways to get him the ball downfield when he was available.
The Titans did not need to force the ball to Ridley against the Jets. But a full game without even one target is hard to justify. The offense stayed underneath most of the afternoon, and Ridley never got a chance to change that.
Ward completed only 2 of 7 throws that traveled at least 10 yards. 17 of his 19 completions came on throws short of 10 yards or behind the line of scrimmage, and the Titans never completed a pass longer than 14 yards.
Titans passing game gave fans little to get excited about in Week 1
Wan’Dale Robinson caught five passes for 38 yards, while Carnell Tate added four for 38. Gunnar Helm caught four for 28. Those three accounted for 13 of Ward’s 19 completions, but none could create the explosive play the Titans needed.
Ward’s completion percentage trend may help explain why Brian Daboll kept the offense so conservative against the Jets. Ward completed under 60% of his passes as a rookie and 54.2% this preseason, so it would make sense if the Titans wanted to start with easier throws. But that approach did not work. It left the passing game with little chance of creating an explosive play.
One game doesn’t define Brian Daboll’s offense. Ridley handled a full route workload, and Robinson and Tate gave Ward reliable options underneath. That gives the Titans something to build on moving forward.
But this was not an elite opponent. The Jets entered the season near the bottom of the league, and the Titans still managed only 10 points at home. The Philadelphia Eagles present a much tougher test in Week 2. If the passing game does not improve quickly, this could get worse before it gets better.
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