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Titans young signal caller, Will Levis, turns around in the pocket to get ready to throw vs. the Texans,
Photo: Thomas Shea / Imagn Images
How about Will Levis? It’s crazy when you give a second year QB with great physical tools and the right mentality a couple weeks to get healthy and integrate more into his first year coach’s offense, he finally figures it out. This team is Will’s team. The energy and excitement he brings under center is something I haven’t seen since Marcus Mariota. His arm talent is unreal, and seeing him grow these last two weeks has been very special. Also, seeing Coach Cally’s development as a coach has been great. While the boys in blue may not be playoff contenders, if the offense continues their improvement and Levis continues his growth, there’s going to be a lot of hope in Nashville come April.
Game Recap
The first half was great from the offense. Levis was commanding, only throwing one incompletion. Yes, an incompletion, not interception. Tony Pollard was gashing the Houston defense on the ground, though his fumble set up a late Texans field goal. After Houston started with a one play TD and the Titans got a field goal, Levis connected with Nick Westbrook-Ikhine to take the lead. Will the Thrill then found Calvin Ridley on a deep strike to set up a Tony Pollard TD to go up 17-7. CJ Stroud responded with a touchdown of his own before Pollard's fumble set up the field goal to tie it. After a Titans punt, Stroud threw an awful pick that Nick Folk turned into 3 points right before the half to go up 20-17. After Folk drilled another field goal to begin the second half, the next points didn’t come until Levis threw a pick six.
After that, the Texans added on another field goal to go up 27-23 in the 4th quarter. It was over. Levis made another horrible mistake that cost Tennessee a game. However, Will didn’t waiver and got right back to work. I love this version of Levis that has come back with vengeance. He found Chig Okonkwo on a little 10-yard crosser that Chig turned into 6 points. Nick added the PAT and the boys were up 30-27. The defense continued their stellar second half, forcing the Texans to miss a chip shot field goal. To end it, Stroud pulled a Dan Orlovsky and stepped out of the endzone, giving the rightful owners of the Oilers colors a 32-27 victory.
Game Observations
Will Levis is the future.
People love to call young QBs out when they struggle early on. My confidence in Mayo Man as QB1 never wavered, and he's shown up over the last two weeks, recording a 64% completion percentage, 573 yards, 3 TD’s to 2 picks. Yes, the picks aren’t good, but the improvement is there and that’s all that matters at this point. His improvement in Callahan’s offense is a great sign for the future.
The defense is great.
The defense allowed just 3 points in the second half. Houston scored only 13 points on drives where they started in their own territory. They got 4 sacks on CJ Stroud and picked him off twice while allowing just 40 rushing yards. The boys went into enemy territory, punched them in the face and stole their lunch money. Stroud looked very lost in that second half.
The special teams is disgusting.
After the D got a stop following the pick six, Jha’Quan Jackson muffed a punt, giving the Texans the ball right back. Thankfully the defense gave up just a field goal, but that is unacceptable. Against better teams that loses you a game. The special teams have sucked for years, and GM Ran Carthon has got to figure this out in the offseason.
Stats and Fantasy
Will Levis: 18/24, 278 yards, 2 TD’s, 1 INT 17.12 Fantasy Pts
Tony Pollard: 24 carries, 119 rushing yards, 1 TD, long of 27 21.90 Fantasy Pts
Calvin Ridley: 5 catches, 93 yards, long of 63 14.30 Fantasy Pts
Nick Folk: 3/3 PAT, 3/3 Field Goals, long of 56 18.00 Fantasy Pts
Defense/ST: 2 interceptions, 1 team safety 10.00 Fantasy Pts
Final Thoughts
The improvement of the offense is so awesome to see. After not hitting 30 points in a game in two years to getting two of them so far this year, Callahan has come in and done a good job constructing a team and offensive unit. Levis’ improvement is the main thing to watch in Titans games now. Can he be consistent and command the offense the way he did today? I sure hope so.
Another thing he needs to do is eliminate the stupid plays. They have gone down since his return from injury, but the pick-six was a blast from the past. Those plays have to stop. Other than that I’m proud of how he’s fought through adversity and hate this year, and I can’t wait to see how he develops down the stretch.
Next week the boys in Two-Tone blue travel to the nation’s capital to play the Commanders. Until next time, #TitanUp!
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