Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback Cam Ward has played some quality football over the previous two weeks. The Titans are 1-1 in those contests, having scored a season-high 31 points in Week 14. In Week 15, they matched their second-highest scoring total of the season, losing 37-24 to the San Francisco 49ers.
Ward has back-to-back performances with two touchdown passes. The former Miami standout didn't have a single multi-TD passing game prior to Week 14. Despite all the positive takeaways and undeniable growth, one unfortunate theme has consistently popped up.
Ward's deep-ball accuracy has continued to elude him. On Sunday against the 49ers, one particular missed opportunity seemed to loom large. With that, Ward's deep-ball misses have emerged as his biggest weakness, and will be an area of improvement heading into 2026.
Cam Ward's deep-ball accuracy a clear area of improvement for Titans in 2026
Ward missed a wide-open Van Jefferson on a 1st-and-10 from the 49ers’ 40-yard line with 19 seconds remaining in the half. Jefferson would have had a walk-in 47-yard touchdown had Ward not overshot him. Instead, it was a critical incompletion, with Joey Slye missing a 50-yard field goal attempt to conclude the half. Missed opportunity indeed.
Ward later connected with Jefferson on a 43-yard deep ball that was slightly underthrown and featured a nice play on the ball by the veteran wideout. His accuracy and ball placement on a 34-yard touchdown to Gunnar Helm earlier in the game was picture-perfect. But Ward's deep-ball numbers had been less than desirable even before Sunday's miss to Jefferson gave fans something to ponder.
Pro Football Focus has Ward at 15-for-44 on passing attempts that traveled further than 19 yards this season. The 15 completions is tied for seventh-fewest in the NFL among quarterbacks who have taken at least 50% of their team's snaps this season. The 32.5% completion percentage is fifth-worst, better than just fellow rookie Jaxson Dart, Marcus Mariota, C.J. Stroud, and Geno Smith. Ward now has two touchdowns and interceptions apiece on deep-ball attempts.
It's worth acknowledging Ward's deep accuracy issues have exclusively been an outside-the-numbers problem, and the same inconsistencies were on his Miami tape. He hasn't produced the same uneven results when throwing the seam ball.
One of his college offensive coordinators Coach Eric Morris told Titan Sized that Ward throws the best seam route he's been around (and Morris coached Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield). The Titans' coaching staff hasn't done a good enough job incorporating those concepts into the playbook.
Ward has been an off-script magician for the Titans, routinely extending the pocket with his legs to create breathtaking completions. Over the course of his rookie campaign, he's drastically improved at taking what the defense gives him, hitting his checkdowns with more confidence and efficiency.
Deep-throw accuracy remains a work in progress though. Whoever the Titans' next head coach is must work on improving Ward's mechanics. Inconsistent mechanics have been primarily to blame. Ward has displayed legitimate improvement at quarterback lately, but there's another level to unlock if he can start generating more explosives.