Now that we’ve had a night to sleep on the Tennessee Titans’ preseason Week 1 loss to the Chicago Bears, it’s time to take a look at the biggest takeaways from it.
Tennessee had a 17-14 halftime lead, but that would be all the scoring the Titans would do. The Bears’ defense put the clamps on Tennessee after that, ultimately securing a 23-17 win on the strength of three second-half field goals.
The Titans did have a chance at a pair of game-winning drives late, but both quarterback Will Levis and Malik Willis had miscues to thwart them.
Of course, the loss means absolutely nothing. We’re really focused on how young players and roster bubble guys looked, how units on both sides of the ball performed as a whole, and if things either got clearer or murkier in certain competitions up and down the roster.
Without further ado, the biggest takeaways from the Titans’ preseason opener on Saturday.
Willis was better than Levis, but QB2 battle remains close
While both had their issues for sure, Malik Willis looked like the better quarterback over Will Levis on Saturday, both in terms of his throws and overall awareness. The Liberty product is miles ahead of where he was in 2022 in what was easily his best showing as a pro.
That said, that should have been expected. Adding to that, Levis is ahead of where Willis was last year and he didn’t look lost out there by any means, so that was definitely encouraging.
Notch a victory for Willis in the battle for QB2, but this competition remains close and Levis still has a good chance to supplant him in the weeks ahead.
Get excited for Tyjae Spears
Spears might have been the biggest standout on Saturday. The Tulane product flashed his impressive burst and made some really nice cuts, and looked like the electric player he was billed as coming out of college.
He even threw a stiff-arm that would have made Derrick Henry blush, and he had a nice kickoff return.
Every Tyjae Spears touch from preseason week 1. #Titans pic.twitter.com/ElNlSc5M8t
— Jake Robertson (@GloryDaySports) August 13, 2023
While I’d love to see more of him in the next two weeks, simply because he’s a fun player to watch in what can be boring preseason games, I’ve already seen enough to know he’s going to be an excellent compliment to Henry.
Nobody clearly pulled ahead in WR6 battle
Racey McMath did what he needed to in the battle for WR6 (if there one), as the LSU product led all receivers in yards on Saturday with 53. However, it’s not like there were any “wow” moments that had me penciling him in as the new obvious favorite for WR6.
Reggie Roberson, who was the favorite coming in, finished with 20 yards, falling behind Mason Kinsey (40), Tre’Shaun Harrison (34) and Kearis Jackson (34). Colton Dowell caught just one pass for six yards.
This outing didn’t exactly help Roberson’s cause, but I don’t think the others did enough to greatly help their own, either. Jackson and Kinsey both helped themselves the most, while Dowell was on the opposite end of the spectrum.
If anything, this competition only got more murky.
Positive showing from starting O-line
All camp long we’ve heard almost nothing but bad things about the offensive line. Thankfully, it was mostly positive for the group on Saturday.
Granted, we only saw the starters for one series, but the unit did face the Bears’ first-teamers. The offensive line didn’t allow a sack and displayed good pass protection. The run-blocking wasn’t great by any means, but Spears did have some room to work with on a few runs.
Sure, it was a limited sample size, but I’ll take anything I can get at this point after what has been a rough training camp.
Backup O-line is a concern
We go from the starters to the backups, two groups that were on opposite sides of the spectrum.
Willis and Levis were sacked eight times combined, although a few of those were definitely on the quarterbacks. Even still, there was a ton of pressure getting through, even when they weren’t sacked.
Jaelyn Duncan and Xavier Newman were responsible for a sack each, at least, including on one play where they got crossed up on a stunt. Newman was also responsible for a penalty.
They weren’t the only ones to struggle, but those were the two who jumped out at me. Whatever the case may be, this group didn’t instill much confidence that the Titans will be OK if one of their starters gets hurt.
Defensive depth is a concern
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has been following the team this offseason, but the depth on defense is a concern.
The Bears’ starters began the game by ripping off two long touchdowns on their only two series versus a Titans defense that sat almost all of its starters. I will say, though, one touchdown should have been called back because of a block in the back, but I’m not sure the tackle would’ve been made anyway.
The defense gave up chunk plays all game long, especially through the air. The Bears notched gains of 62, 56, 37, 25 and 24 (run) and finished with 16.2 yards per reception.
The pass-rush notched two sacks, but Bears quarterbacks were mostly comfortable in the pocket, as those were the only QB hits registered by Tennessee on the afternoon.
On the bright side, things did settle down as the game progressed, the run defense was solid (3.4 yards per carry) and there were a pair of turnovers. That said, I wasn’t particularly impressed overall.
Neither kicker impressed
Both kickers attempted one field goal on Saturday, with Caleb Shudak making his from 41 yards out and Trey Wolff missing his from 48.
It goes without saying Wolff’s miss wasn’t good, but it’s not like Shudak hit a perfect ball on his. In fact, if Shudak was as far away as Wolff was, his attempt goes wide right.
Wolff and Shudak have been good in camp, but that really means nothing. The biggest test comes in games, and Wolff failed his and Shudak barely passed his. Not exactly an ideal situation, especially for a team that has experienced massive kicker woes in recent years.
