The Tennessee Titans suffered about as horrible of a Week 1 outing as anyone could have possibly imagined. They desperately needed a win to show some signs of life, and not only did they get dominated by a team that is regarded as one of the league's worst, it came at the hands of Robert Saleh's former team - the New York Jets.
Nothing went well whatsoever. Cam Ward and the offense were out of sorts all day, making many extremely concerned about his outlook. The defense was porous and particularly got pushed around up front, and everything felt like a virtual repeat of the two seasons before.
One of the only numbers that some might be encouraged by is that the Titans only committed four penalties for 25 yards. That's notable, especially since penalties were a huge issue for Saleh in New York. That being said, a throughout evaluation of the game reveals that the penalty totals are a liar relative to what the team showed.
Tennessee Titans were not disciplined in Week 1 despite lack of penalties
The penalties enforced against the Titans on Sunday and the yardage they cost are listed down below:
Kickoff out of bounds (0 yards, ball placed at 40 yard line)
Pass interference (10 yards)
Holding (10 yards)
False start (5 yards)
Usually, you can live with that from a collective team perspective, but these penalties can be particularly nitpicked for the Titans in this game. First of all, the kickoff out of bounds came on the literal opening kickoff, which is an especially concerning example pertaining to how flat this team was out of the gate.
Additionally, the holding and false start penalties were both committed by JC Latham, who himself had an inconsistent outing when he needed to perform well.
There were other instances in the game that did not result in enforced penalties, but indicated how disjointed the team was in every phase. They had 12 men on the field twice on defense, one of which resulted in a timeout, and the other was declined since the Jets scored a touchdown on the play.
Robert Saleh mentioned both instances after the game, acknowledging that they were his fault, adding that both happened in goal-line situations.
Titans need to clean up mental errors in Week 2
During the third quarter, the Titans offense had a separate situation where players were still motioning around to get set while the play clock was running, and they had to burn another timeout. We do not know if that is on Cam Ward's instructions or guys not understanding their assignments, or both, but it is clear that the whole team was not on the same page.
What also adds to the deception of the official penalty totals is that the team did not at all play with the fast and violent identity that Saleh has been preaching all offseason. They were getting bullied and were totally uninspiring, so you can't even give the Titans credit for balancing that speed and violence with the ability to appropriately reign it in.
This was still the first game of the year under a brand new coaching staff, and things take time to come together. Even the most basic gaffes like the ones that happened to the Titans in Week 1 are not uncommon, it is fair to hold out hope for improvement in these areas.
That being said, the overall lack of energy was a major head shaker. Combine that with the special teams errors, and it was an extremely disappointing showing. The Titans need to find a way to field a team that produces respectable NFL results because they cannot afford yet another three-win season.
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