Numbers tell a big part of the story as to why the Tennessee Titans are struggling at the bottom of the NFL after three games.
It is easy to put all the blame at the feet of quarterback Will Levis, whose play at critical times this year can certainly be called into question.
But after losing back-to-back games at home, including allowing former backup QB Malik Willis to carve them up Sunday, it’s worth delving into some of the numbers regarding the Titans’ early season failures to get a more total picture of why things have not worked out.
• 0: That’s zero, as in the number of wins this Titans team has thus far. That’s also zero as in the number of takeaways accumulated by the Tennessee defense in that span.
First-year Titans defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson promised an aggressive unit that would attack the football and create turnovers. But that hasn’t happened.
And while this unit had looked much improved until Willis fileted them Sunday, the truth is the defense cannot contribute to the Titans being able to win games until it starts to create turnovers to help out a struggling offense.
Last year, those things were a major but under-noticed issue for the Titans, who produced just 13 takeaways all last season. That has to change.
• 8: It’s Will Levis’ jersey number and the number of turnovers the Titans quarterback has had through the first three games. It is also the highest total any quarterback has had through the first three games in the last three years. Levis has thrown five interceptions (two returned for touchdowns) and also lost a fumble in the first three weeks on a sack.
Coach Brian Callahan says he is sticking by Levis as his starter in hopes of developing him into a top-flight quarterback. But even he says the results are overall unacceptable thus far.
“We got to get fixed, whatever that looks like. However that looks, it doesn’t really matter. We can’t lead the league in turnovers at the quarterback position and expect to win a lot of games. So that part has got to get better,” Callahan says.
Speaking of getting better around Levis, here’s another number that is prominent in the Titans’ failures thus far…
• 15: The number of sacks yielded by the Titans offensive line through the first three games.
Two seasons ago, the Titans surrendered 49 sacks, and that was deemed totally unacceptable. Last year that number rose to 64, which played a role in sweeping changes this offseason in the coaching staff and personnel.
Yet, the Titans are on a pace to allow 85 sacks.
Before the Green Bay game, Levis had been pressured 57% of the time. That number only got worse Sunday, and even Brian Callahan’s father, Bill, a legendary offensive line coach, might be wondering if he’s trying to win the Kentucky Derby on a mule with some of the mess he has inherited.
Right tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere, who was benched Sunday after allowing Levis to get creamed on a costly strip sack, has had two bad weeks in a row. It doesn’t appear that he will get the chance to make it three.
“I don’t know what the disconnect is. I felt like he had a pretty good camp, was in a good spot and, thus far has not been good enough,” Brian Callahan said of Petit-Frere.
It seems as games go on, the Titans struggle more and more, rather than snapping out of their funk and finding a rhythm. Which brings us back to where we started in our numbers game: 0.
Through three games, the Titans have yet to score a single point in the fourth quarter. That’s definitely not a recipe for success in a league where games are usually close and decided at the end.
Terry McCormick covers the Titans for TitanInsider.com