The Tennessee Titans are front and center in season 3 of Netflix’s Quarterback series, and the first episode wastes no time displaying the dysfunction that plagued their 3-win 2025 campaign.

Cam Ward, one of four featured quarterbacks this season, is at the heart of an opening scene that makes both the rookie and former head coach Brian Callahan look bad. Netflix and the Titans deserve credit for allowing this moment to air, frankly, because it is not flattering to anyone involved.

Here’s what I know: this scene is going to be the first talking point of the show for Titans fans. It’s also going to be a Rorschach test for whether people want to dump on Ward or dump on Callahan.

Setting the scene in Denver

Let’s set this up: It’s early in the fourth quarter of the Week 1 matchup in Denver. Tennessee trails the Broncos 13-12 and is very much alive on the road at Mile High.

The Titans are forced to punt, but Broncos return man Marvin Mims muffs the catch. Standout rookie special teamer Dorian Mausi recovers the ball at the Denver 24-yard line, giving the Titans some of their best field position of the game well within field goal range and trailing by just a point.

The Titans open the gift of a drive with a 2-yard run to make it 2nd & 8. Then Ward takes a brutal sack for -16 yards. Tennessee burns a timeout because they know they need to stay in field goal range to retake the lead.

This is where the Netflix hot mic picks up. Ward comes to the sideline and talks with Callahan about the play. “Let me see the script real quick, let’s see third and long” Ward says.

“We’re in field goal range, we’ve got to be able to take the lead here” Callahan replies, with a play in mind. but Ward asks for something different. “I ain’t gonna take a sack” Ward insists.

Callahan defers to what his rookie quarterback is most comfortable with. Then Ward promptly takes a sack.

It knocks the Titans out of field goal range. They punt, never retake the lead, and lose 20-12.

Why both sides deserve criticism

Those inclined to hate on Callahan, as he was an easy punching bag all season, are going to say you absolutely cannot let your rookie quarterback call his own play in that situation. In hindsight, I agree he should’ve made the call himself. Callahan should have stuck with the play he believed gave the Titans the best chance. I think he would say the same today.

But it’s also a bit of a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t situation. Whether they ran the play Ward wanted or the play Callahan wanted, the bottom line is Ward cannot take a sack. He knew he couldn’t take a sack. He said it out loud, on camera. And then he took a sack on the play he specifically asked for because he thought it would be more comfortable.

For Callahan, I can understand the conflict. He was a coach already on the hot seat. The entire organization revolved around Ward. There’s a political game to be played when you’re trying to make your franchise quarterback comfortable, trying to make him a champion of yours. But deferring to a rookie that early in his career is something Ward needs to earn. In the moment, it’s an understandable instinct. In hindsight, it’s a mistake.

The bitter rookie quarterback reality

Then there’s the Ward side of things. Those inclined to dump on him will say this is the exact kind of moment that contradicts the narrative of his processing and football IQ being ahead of schedule.

But the reality is that this is life with a rookie quarterback. These are the growing pains almost every young passer goes through, with very few exceptions.

After the play, the show cuts to Ward on the bench talking with quarterback coach Bo Hardegree, who tries to pump him back up: “That’s the one that you’ll get. I promise you will. . . . It’ll feel so easy. It’ll feel almost like it’s boring. And it’s okay to hit the slants. Just work the progression. . . . That’s why I showed you that Tom Brady video. You’ll do it. . . . Then you’re going to be like, (expletive), this is easy. You can throw all these (expletive) plays in this sheet.”

That’s the way you have to be with a rookie quarterback. Every coach on the sideline wanted to put their head in their hands in that moment, but Hardegree’s job is to keep his guy’s confidence intact, because boneheaded mistakes are part of the development process.

Can Ward still be making this kind of mistake on a consistent basis in Year 2? Absolutely not. But on the road at Mile High, in his first NFL game, against a Denver team that reached the AFC Championship Game? It’s an understandable growing pain, not a disqualifying one.

The bigger picture Netflix captured

My takeaway isn’t that one side deserves more blame than the other. It’s that Netflix painted the perfect opening scene to illustrate where the Titans were at the start of last season. The Broncos game captured a team that was, across the board, too dysfunctional to operate at the NFL level. I commend the Titans for allowing it to be shown this honestly. It’s not a good look, but it’s an accurate one. And it’s a reminder of how much work Robert Saleh and this new team have ahead of them.