Titans need Will Levis and Brian Callahan to meet expectations

Week 1 of a new NFL season is often described as a liar. Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan and quarterback Will Levis certainly hope that is true for this team.

The Titans poured resources into the offense this offseason, particularly across the offensive line. An experienced offensive mind like Callahan (and his future Hall of Fame father as the offensive line coach) should be able to mitigate any lingering issues with good play-calling, especially while a new-look line is still developing its chemistry.

The biggest question heading into Week 1 was whether or not the Titans would be able to slow down Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams. Between L'Jarius Sneed, Chidobe Awuzie, Harold Landry, and Jeffery Simmons sitting out all of the preseason, the carousel at linebacker, and concerns about depth at EDGE, all of the pressure was on the defense.

Not only did the defense live up to expectations, they were one of the most dominant defenses in the NFL in Week 1, allowing the fewest yards in Week 1 and zero touchdowns.

They held up their end of the bargain, but after Jack Gibbens whiffed badly on a punt the Bears blocked and returned for a touchdown, the Callahan and Levis offense went into a tailspin.

Levis' play became more erratic despite the Titans still nursing a lead. The second-year quarterback began forcing the issue, and perhaps Callahan could have found ways to set up easy completions to settle his quarterback down.

The result was the worst game that Levis has played in a Titans uniform and an embarrassing loss that only puts more pressure on the offense to make things happen at home in Week 2 against the New York Jets.

That can't happen again. If Levis can't stay calm and maintain his composure, increased emphasis is placed on Callahan to call plays that get the ball out of his hands quickly and safely until he gets into a rhythm. And of course, it's on Levis to actually execute those concepts and not go rogue. It's a two-way street.

Case in point, Callahan recently talked about the importance of EPA in his play-calling. However, his actions on Sunday didn't always reflect that. Zach Lyons posted this on Monday:

Using EPA as a reference point, Levis has been a more productive passer from under center in the NFL. Despite that, more than 90% of his passes in Week 1 came from shotgun formation.

A similar thing happened when you look at play action passes. Levis was very strong using play action last season, and the offense leaned into that by making 29% of Levis' attempts play action passes.

On Sunday, the Titans only used play action on 13% of their passes despite a productive running game that was sucking defenders into the line of scrimmage. The score certainly remained close enough for the Titans to utilize more play action than they did.

To be clear, Levis has to handle pressure better in the future and play better in general. He was a problem for the Titans on Sunday and if he can't execute the Callahan offense, then the Titans are going to be in the market for a new quarterback next offseason.

But the season is still young and Levis, just 10 starts into his career, is the quarterback for 2024. That won't change anytime soon and it's Callahan's job to adapt to what Levis can do and then work from there. It's a job he signed up for partially because he believes Levis is a franchise quarterback.

The defense exceeded expectations on Sunday. The pressure is on Callahan and Levis to get the offense moving in the right direction.