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

In a game Tennessee Titans fans will likely remember forever, rookie quarterback Will Levis stunned the Atlanta Falcons with a monster debut, passing for 238 yards, 4 touchdowns, and no interceptions while bringing home a win.

Levis was obviously the biggest question mark going into the day, but his performance now has him seen as the potential heir to Ryan Tannehill. Just about everything seemed to go right for number 8, and he showed some amazing upside in the victory.

Instead of the smoke and mirrors we got last week, we know that Levis will be the starter heading into Week 9's TNF matchup against the much-maligned Pittsburgh Steelers. While Ryan Tannehill continues to recover from a high ankle sprain. fans are wondering whether Will Levis is the real deal or if his debut was just a fluke.

So let's take one last look back to Sunday before Will Levis take centerstage again in his first primetime matchup on Thursday.

Just a heads up, this is going to be a meticulous breakdown of how the game unfolded, what Will Levis did, and how he handled himself throughout the game. This is more than just raw stats or looking at a highlight or two, so get ready to relive Will Levis's debut one more time.

1st half breakdown

After not passing the ball at all on his first drive, Tennessee eased Levis into the passing game on drive two, giving him a designed dump-off to Tyjae Spears for minimal gain, and a three-yard connection with Chig Okonkwo that fell just short of the chains on 3rd and 4.

Although Levis faced some criticism from fans for checking down short of the sticks on third down, it was actually a great play from the rookie. With Hopkins not open initially, Levis patiently hitched up in the pocket and moved to his second read on the play, giving one of his playmakers a chance to make a play. This kind of poise is great to see from such an inexperienced player.

After the fake punt was converted for a first down, Levis immediately fired a strike downfield to Treylon Burks on the right sideline that was knocked away by the defender at the last minute. It was easily one of the most impressive plays of the day by Levis and demonstrated his ability to throw passes while off-platform which made him so successful in college.

On just the fourth play of the very next drive, Levis uncorked a 47-yard bomb to Deandre Hopkins for his first career touchdown and Hopkins’ first of the season. Most of the controversy on this play came from Hopkins’ hand-fighting with Falcons’ star corner A.J. Terrell, which did not result in an OPI call.

Levis perfectly led Hopkins upfield while giving his best receiver a chance to come down with a contested ball. It's also notable that Levis again pump-faked while looking over the middle, causing the corner to bite on the underneath play. Another great play by Levis to show chemistry and trust with his best weapon despite such a limited amount of reps.

Facing 3rd and 3 on the subsequent drive, Levis dialed up another deep pass, this time down the left sideline that was hauled in by Burks, but he couldn’t get his feet in bounds. Despite the fact that this was possibly catchable by Burks, this is probably Levis’s first miss of the day considering just how open Burks was on the play.

When Levis threw the ball, though, he likely didn’t expect Burks to get by his defender so easily and still showed good anticipation leading him ahead toward the sideline. Even though this one wasn’t caught, still not a bad play by the rookie.

After a fumble set up the Titans in Falcons territory, Levis hit Hopkins perfectly in stride who spun past a defender for the 16-yard score. Levis correctly identified zone coverage after the motion and got the ball to Hopkins who was being tailed by a linebacker over the middle. The ability to effectively recognize and execute off of matchup advantages is a skill that all high-level quarterbacks possess, so it's great to see Levis already using this in his game.

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.

Non-Throwing Analysis

Tennessee’s opening drive began with three straight runs, including a successful QB sneak by Levis to move the chains, before Willis ultimately fumbled the next snap. Levis ran the QB sneak several times this game to much success. Clearly, Vrabel and Tim Kelly were more comfortable involving the sneak in the playbook with a younger, more athletic quarterback. 

Levis made a great spinning handoff on a trick play to TE Chig Okonkwo to convert a 3rd and 1, a play that the announcers noted Levis likely didn’t have much practice with. On a similar play later in the game, Kelly called a jet sweep but a high snap threw off the timing of the play and Levis made the smart decision to tuck it himself, resulting in positive yardage. 

Levis also notably audibled out of certain plays, which then resulted in big chunk runs for the Titans. Levis’s understanding of pre-snap coverage and how to run the offense so effectively in his first game was very impressive simply considering how little time he’s spent with the team. 

Finally, in the waning moments of the game, in order to burn the Falcons' last timeout, Levis intentionally took a sack rather than throwing an incomplete pass. Throughout the game, Levis also showed great intuition in getting rid of the ball at the right times to avoid unnecessary sacks.

These types of plays demonstrate that Levis has wisdom beyond his years and very strong football instincts.

Conclusion

Now, let's not put him into the Hall of Fame just yet. Although this analysis has been overwhelmingly positive, it's just one game, and teams are going to adapt to force Levis into more uncomfortable situations going forward. 

Levis noticeably did not have a lot of intermediate passing, and that’s something I’d like to see more of coming off the play action this week. Additionally, teams are going to emphasize taking away the deep ball with plenty of two high-safety looks, so It will be interesting to see how the rookie responds.

That being said, almost everything we’ve seen so far is extremely encouraging. The types of plays that Levis is consistently making are what keep opposing coaches awake at night. 

Levis showed so much poise and great instincts when under duress, delivering balls with accuracy and touch, and making great decisions while going through his progressions. And that last touchdown… man, oh man.

Titans fans, I think we got ourselves a quarterback.

Overall Grade: A+