The Tennessee Titans’ offensive performance in their preseason debut could best be described as up and down.
There were some obvious positives to take away, such as the impressive performances of the Titans’ starting offensive line and rookie running back, Tyjae Spears.
However, once the members of the first-team offensive line headed to the bench for the day, the offense largely devolved into a unit full of inconsistencies.
Tennessee’s offense — which was led by quarterbacks Malik Willis and Will Levis, both of whom did some good things — surrendered a disappointing eight sacks and four turnovers en route to a 23-17 loss to the Bears.
Two of those turnovers came from Willis (interception and fumble) while Levis (interception) and rookie tight end Josh Whyle (fumble) were responsible for the other two.
Offensive coordinator Tim Kelly discussed the turnover issue on Monday afternoon during the team’s press conference, and he stated the following:
“You can’t win many games in the NFL turning the ball over four times,” said Kelly, per 104.5 The Zone. “That’s paramount. We’ve got to do a better job of making sure that we’re not exposing the football. We’ve got to do a better job of making sure we’re taking advantage of a short field.
“Our defense did a good job of creating some turnovers and we’ve got to do a better job of being able to take advantage of that. Those would be the two major areas that we want to improve on.”
The offense has an opportunity to right the ship this week, as it is set to practice with the Minnesota Vikings before playing them on Saturday.
We may not see the starters much this weekend, but they’ll at least get their first real chance at facing off against an opposing team’s defense, albeit in a practice setting.
While it’s obvious that Tennessee is placing a clear emphasis on protecting the football, we’ll have to wait and see just how much that message actually carries over to the field when both teams are out there together.
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