The Tennessee Titans lost a close Thursday night thriller to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 20-16. This game was very predictable in the sense that it mainly revolved around physical play by both teams that led to a low-scoring ball game.
In the end, a combination of questionable play calls, a non-existent defense and not enough help for the team’s rookie quarterback ultimately prevented the Titans from picking up their fourth win of the season.
This is one of those games that the team will reflect on at the end of the year as one that got away. Only time will tell whether or not this comes back to haunt the Titans, but there were some positives to take away from this one, as well, and mainly when it comes to the guy who wears No. 8 on his jersey.
As always, when losing in this type of fashion, there are going to be some overreactions, but there are also some hard truths.
Listed below are four narratives that we consider truths and one that is still an overreaction, at least for now, although we’re rapidly getting closer to it falling in the truths section.
Truth: Tim Kelly’s playcalling was an issue
You know things are bad when you had people calling for your job. While I wouldn’t go that far just yet, especially after some of his previous performances, there’s no denying that Thursday was rough.
Tim Kelly’s worst moments came at the most inopportune times.
At the end of the first half, the Titans’ offensive coordinator settled for a field goal instead of taking a shot toward the end zone.
The worst call of the day came on a crucial 3rd-and-4 at the end of the game. Tennessee ran the ball to no avail and was forced to punt the ball back to the Steelers after taking a deep shot on the next play.
Kelly has had a lot of good moments this season, but today was definitely not one of them.
Overreaction: Titans’ playoff hopes are dead
As painful as today was, the Titans’ playoff hopes aren’t dead and buried just yet. I’d be lying if I said they weren’t slim, but anything is possible with how well Levis is playing.
The Titans have a relatively favorable schedule going forward that includes five games at Nissan Stadium, where they’re currently undefeated. However, if they really want to go on a run, Tennessee must start winning games away from home, which is something it’s yet to do through eight games.
We’ll have to wait and see whether or not a magical second half of the season is in store for the Titans, but they’ve left themselves with minimal room for error at this point.
Truth: Andre Dillard shouldn't see another snap
If there was one major flaw in Ran Carthon’s first offseason as general manager, it was his decision to give a $29 million contract to Dillard. The Washington State product has been a complete liability this entire season.
To make matters worse, Dillard’s shortcomings were completely exposed in front of the entire country. According to Next Gen Stats, Alex Highsmith generated a whopping nine pressures when lined up against him.
Alex Highsmith generated 11 pressures against the Titans, 9 of which came in matchups against Andre Dillard.
Highsmith now leads the NFL in pressures (49) and win probability added on sacks (+74.0%).#TENvsPIT #HereWeGo pic.twitter.com/X2uQeXlKT9
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) November 3, 2023
The Titans’ tackle entered the day leading the league in sacks allowed with seven, and he will likely be credited with another two sacks after Thursday night.
We’ve reached a point where things simply can’t get much worse if they trot anybody else out there. It’s become obvious that the team doesn’t want to move Peter Skoronski to left tackle, so I think the next best thing the Titans could try if Nicholas Petit-Frere can’t go is giving Dillon Radunz a chance.
Radunz performed admirably at right tackle after filling in for Petit-Frere., who exited early due to injury. With Chris Hubbard likely to come back before the next game, I think this extended time off could be a perfect opportunity to get Radunz ready to move to the blindside.
Whatever the team decides to do, it cannot continue to trot out No. 71 any longer, unless it’s simply out of desperation following injuries.
The only thing Dillard is accomplishing is holding back the entire offense while simultaneously putting the young quarterback at risk of getting seriously hurt.
It’s time for the team to accept their loss and move on from the worst decision of the Carthon era thus far.
Truth: Will Levis needs to remain the starter going forward
Despite the loss, if there’s one thing that made Titans fans feel good tonight, it was the play of rookie quarterback, Will Levis. The Kentucky product went into a hostile environment while facing a phenomenal pass-rush and more than held his own.
The rookie quarterback had every excuse to fold, and most people would’ve understood had he done so. Instead, Levis never got overwhelmed and punched back almost every single time he got knocked down.
Will Levis was pressured 15 times Thursday, most by a #Titans QB this season. He fared well passing when pressured, going 6-of-10 for 75 yards, but also took 4 sacks.
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) November 3, 2023
With the team sitting at 3-5, getting Levis experience matters as much as anything right now.
He also gives the Titans the best chance to compete for wins this season and it would be impossible to sell the fanbase on going back to Ryan Tannehill, barring an injury to the rookie.
There’s no telling how the rest of this season will play out, but one thing is for sure: the rookie quarterback needs to be the guy under center the rest of the way.
Truths: Titans’ pass-rush is way too inconsistent
This is one of the most frustrating developments of the season. The Titans’ defensive front looked awesome against one of the better offensive lines in the league a week ago, at least for a half.
Yet, this week was the complete opposite. The most confusing part about it is how the unit followed last week up by struggling against an offensive line that had a lot of problems in its own right going into Thursday.
Not only did Tennessee not record a single sack on the day, the pass-rush hardly affected Kenny Pickett throughout the entire game.
If the Titans are going to go on a run of any kind, they have to find some consistency in the one area that was universally considered a strength heading into the season.
