The Tennessee Titans have now lost two games in a row and sit in last place in the AFC South with a 2-4 record after dropping the Week 6 contest to the Baltimore Ravens in London, 24-16.
The Titans will now get a much-needed bye week in which they have a lot of things to think about, especially after defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons questioned the effort of his teammates.
The biggest question to answer will be what to do at quarterback, assuming an injured Ryan Tannehill can’t go in Week 8. It isn’t out of the question to consider a quarterback change entirely, but I don’t think Tennessee will do that quite yet if he’s healthy enough to play.
Will the Titans turn to Malik Willis once again, or will they consider giving Will Levis a shot after the Liberty product showed nothing in relief of Tannehill in Week 6?
Whatever they decide to do, the Titans need to get things on track quickly or else they’ll suffer another lost season that will leave many more questions than answers.
We go over the Tannehill-Willis-Levis situation and much more as we take a look at this week’s winners and losers.
Loser: LT Andre Dillard
It appears the Dillard experiment at left tackle has come to an end. The Titans made the switch to Nicholas Petit-Frere in the second half after Dillard gave up a sack on Tennessee’s first drive of the third quarter.
Winner: LT Nicholas Petit-Frere
Petit-Frere got his first look at left tackle in the NFL and was OK for the most part. He certainly did enough to warrant another look there in Week 8 when Tennessee returns home to take on the Atlanta Falcons.
Loser: QB Ryan Tannehill
Not only did Tannehill get hurt, he wasn’t very sharp before the injury. He was high on multiple throws and completed just 50 percent of his passes for 76 yards. Tannehill also failed to get Tennessee going in the red zone.
His worst throw of the day came on the interception in the third quarter on a drive in which the Titans could’ve taken the lead. The ball was underthrown, likely because he couldn’t get any mustard behind it thanks to his bad ankle, but that doesn’t change the fact of how devastating a play it was for the Titans.
Winner: RB Derrick Henry
People continue to write Henry off. Say what you want, but when he has adequate blocking, The King can still make plays.
Henry ripped off a 63-yard run in the third quarter that led to a Titans field goal. Unfortunately, Tennessee’s abysmal red zone offense was unable to capitalize with an actual touchdown.
Then, Henry scored Tennessee’s only touchdown of the game with a 15-yard scamper on the next offensive series.
He only had 12 carries, which wasn’t enough considering the success he was having, but he did turn them into 97 yards, good enough for 8.1 yards per tote.
Loser: QB Malik Willis
Willis was the next man up after Tannehill exited the game but was wholly disappointing. The Liberty product displayed awful pocket presence and decision-making, and he held on to the ball for way too long.
When he did get rid of it, his passes weren’t accurate.
As bad as Tennessee’s offense was before he got in, it was even worse after. If Tannehill can’t go in Week 8, the Titans need to strongly consider giving the ball to Will Levis, not Willis.
Winner: QB Will Levis
Levis’ chances of seeing action actually improved without even taking a snap.
With Tannehill struggling and injured, and with Willis being even worse, there is now a logical argument to be made for inserting Levis into the starting job instead of Willis in Week 8 if Tannehill can’t go.
Hell, with the way this season is going, that might be the logical move even if Tannehill is healthy enough to play. Tennessee needs to know what it has in its second-round pick before the year ends.
Loser: Titans' red zone offense
The Titans were 1-for-4 in the red zone for a second straight week and are now 2-for-13 in that area in their four losses this season. This year would look a lot different if Tennessee could just finish with touchdowns.
Winner: OLB Harold Landry
Sure, it was a loss, but Landry showed some much-needed signs of life in Week 6 after what had been a quiet first five weeks.
He had a pair of tackles for loss, including a big one in the red zone, and he notched his second sack of the 2023 campaign, which was also Tennessee’s only one on the day.
Landry was about the only bright spot for Tennessee’s defense front on Sunday.
Loser: WR Kyle Philips
It’s time to end the Kyle Philips era at punt returner.
The UCLA product inexplicably tried to fair catch a punt with one second left in the first half but fumbled, which handed the Ravens three free points.
Blame it on coaching, if you will, but Philips should know better. If you want to blame coaching for something, it’s allowing him to field another after that.
If he isn’t fumbling punts, he’s getting hurt fielding them. Let Philips focus on being a receiver and fire the idea of him being a returner into the sun.
Loser: Titans' defense
While the Titans’ defense deserves credit for making stops in the red zone, it also allowed five trips (the sixth was off Philips’ fumble) to the area, one of which resulted in a touchdown.
Besides that and the two turnovers, Tennessee’s pass-rush didn’t exist and the secondary once again was unable to overcome that.
It’s all well and good that the Titans can make a stand in the red zone, but they have to actually prevent teams from getting there — and that’s especially true with how bad the offense has been.
Loser: WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine
The Titans would’ve converted two of their red zone trips into touchdowns if Westbrook-Ikhine had brought down a Tannehill pass in the end zone in the first half. Simply inexcusable for him to not come down with that ball.
