After four weeks of watching bad football that seemed like an extension of last season for the Tennessee Titans, I was beginning to have my doubts about Cam Ward and whether or not he was worthy of being chosen with the first overall pick.
Through those four games, Ward was hardly showing the promise and progress that would lend encouragement that he was on his way to success.
Look, I understand completely that rookie quarterbacks, and most young quarterbacks in general, struggle in their first couple of years. But Ward’s struggles seemed to go beyond that in that he was both not playing well himself and not getting much help from the team around him. It didn’t help that his numbers alone were hovering at or near the bottom of the league in almost every passing category available.
For three quarters Sunday, my thought process was being further validated with more missed opportunities by Ward in an offense that featured much more blues than rhythm. Tennessee had just 115 yards total for that three-quarter time span Sunday.
It had me at least asking in my mind that maybe Ward wasn’t ready for the role just yet, with such a poor team around him. That same scenario has swallowed up many young quarterbacks before, including a few who played for the Titans.
I thought maybe the Titans had erred in not bringing in a veteran bridge quarterback like Jameis Winston or Jacoby Brissett to ease the transition for the rookie. After all, up until Ward’s fourth quarter turn, both Jaxson Dart with the Giants and Dillon Gabriel with the Browns had been afforded that luxury and both looked a lot more comfortable adjusting to NFL life in what little I had seen of their small sample sizes.
But at least for one game – and more precisely one quarter – Ward changed the narrative around his own struggles and the Titans shortcomings, taking advantage of two Cardinal miscues and turning certain defeat into his first NFL victory and his first fourth quarter comeback win.
Given new life after an inexplicable Emari Demarcado fumble wiped a Cardinals touchdown off the board, Ward began to work. He completed 13 of 18 passes in the fourth quarter for 193 yards after having just 72 yards through the first three.
The playmaking, the confidence, the clutch throws (and a little luck on the interception-turned-touchdown) gave a glimpse of maybe better days ahead if Ward and the Titans can begin to build on this.
Who knows? It could just be one fluky albeit needed win for the Titans. But for the first time in his brief NFL stint, Ward showed why the organization took him first overall.
Now, let’s see if he can begin to help lay a foundation for a much-needed culture change in Tennessee.