Brian Callahan's answer for the Titans problems doesn't tell the full story
NASHVILLE – Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan has been pretty transparent about the laundry list of things his team needs to do better. After Sunday's loss to the Green Bay Packers, Callahan stepped to the podium and delivered a state of the union. The first-year head coach addressed all of his team's problems and […]
NASHVILLE – Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan has been pretty transparent about the laundry list of things his team needs to do better.
After Sunday's loss to the Green Bay Packers, Callahan stepped to the podium and delivered a state of the union. The first-year head coach addressed all of his team's problems and really emphasized how disappointing the start of the season has been.
"We're not consistent enough anywhere offensively, we allowed too many explosives on defense. We still haven't got a turnover. I think we're probably going to be dead last in the turnover margin by a long shot at this point. And that's going to lose you a lot of football games in the NFL, we're not good enough on either side there. We don't protect it well, we don't take it away. We allowed too many yards rushing. We had some tackling issues early. We settled down and then had to get in a drop back situation at the end of the game in the second half as we didn't find much success on the ground versus a good front. And the eight sacks was a result. So ultimately not good enough anywhere," said Callahan.
Sheesh…When you put it like that, it certainly sounds like the Titans are a long ways away from being a winning football team. At the same time, it's far too early to throw in the towel. So where does Tennessee go from here? With so many issues to fix, what's the priority?
Callahan was asked that question in Monday's press conference. While his answer may sound satisfactory, I don't think it tells the full story.
"Not turn the ball over. That's clear as can be," said Callahan without hesitation. "I mean, we're last in the league in turnover margin. We're minus seven, that doesn't count the blocked punts. In my mind, it's minus nine in three games. Of those seven turnovers on offense, 14 points directly went back the other way. One of the punts directly went back the other way. So that's 21 points. I think we've lost two games by seven points and one by 16 and there's your margin. "
"If you want to look at one single thing right now that's getting in the way of us winning in football games, that's turning the ball over," Callahan continued. "Most of the teams down there with us in the margins, if they're down at minus seven, five, four, three, most of those guys are probably 1-2, 0-3, whatever that looks like. So, the turnover statistics in the NFL are glaring. It's not a mystery. You're well into the plus, you're usually a playoff team and you're deep in the minuses, you're usually not very good. And that's just the way it is."
Callahan is not necessarily wrong about why the Titans have struggled to find wins through three weeks. The turnover margin is glaring. But I also think it's a bit of a lazy answer.
We get it. The Titans turn the ball over too much and don't get enough turnovers on defense. But if the solution was as simple as saying "we need to be better about that," we wouldn't be sitting here after three games with the Titans still giving the ball to their opponents and generating no turnovers themselves.
Jeffery Simmons and Dennard Wilson told me two weeks ago that the Titans defense was going to prioritize creating turnovers and getting the ball. But here we are…same issues and the same excuses.
See, the root of the team's problems is not turnovers. It's the things that cause turnovers. It's the fact that Will Levis was the most pressured quarterback through the first two games of the season and was then sacked eight times in Week 3. It's the run game not being effective and the offense working otu of passing situation behind the sticks too frequently.
On defense, it's the fact that the Titans have a total of just six quarterback hurries according to PFF. How are you supposed to generate turnovers when you're hardly ever making opposing quarterbacks uncomfortable and baiting them into mistakes?
It didn't help that Tennessee was playing from behind from the early minutes of Sunday's game against Green Bay. The Packers were leaning on the run and rarely got into passing situations. Run plays are much safer.
We need to be honest about what's going on here. Not enough Titans players are doing their job and winning their one-on-one assignments. Too many defenders are getting after Levis unblocked and creating turnovers as a result.
If the Titans want to cut back on turnovers, they must first address the issues with the offensive line and play better around their young quarterback.
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