Franchise quarterback or fluke, breaking down Will Levis's debut

2nd half breakdown

Late in the 3rd quarter, Levis had a play almost identical to his first touchdown of the day except this time on the right side, once again using the pump-fake to bait the deep safety and unleashing an easy touchdown for the Hopkins hat-trick.

With the Falcons in close pursuit, Tennessee needed another score to put the game away. Up against 3rd and 4 at their own 21-yard line, Levis fired a bullet into the chest of Chig Okonkwo, sitting him down on his route for the chain-mover.

I really like how Levis noticed the down-breaking DB and instead of placing the ball in stride, actually forced Okonkwo to stop his route, using his body to shield from a potential play by the defender. Very high-level stuff on this play from Levis.

On the very next play, however, Levis had what may have been his only bad snap of the day, where he forced a ball low and left to a covered Okonkwo, nearly getting picked off. This is one of those plays where, with pressure in his face and no one open, Levis just has to take the sack or get rid of the ball if he can, just like he did for most of the day. 

Then, on 2nd and 11 at the Falcons 33 with under eight minutes to play, Levis put the icing on the cake. Levis faked the handoff to Henry before sliding out right on the bootleg, and after looking at his initial reads, he somehow saw Nick Westbrook-Ikhine streaking open back on the left side of the field.

While getting absolutely drilled, a backpedaling Will Levis launched an absolute rainbow back across his body, perfectly dropping the ball into the outstretched arms of Westbrook-Ikhine 55 yards downfield. 

When I say there are less than 5 people in the world who can make this throw, it is not an exaggeration. It was simply unreal: to have the arm-strength to throw the ball that far downfield completely off balance with perfect accuracy while getting laid out by a defender — it felt very reminiscent of Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers, and I don’t say that lightly.