Takeaways from the Titans preseason loss to the Bears
The Titans were unable to come away with a victory vs the Bears, losing 23-17..
Preseason Week 1 is in the books for the Titans, as the team was unable to come away with a win in Chicago. Here are my major takeaways from the 23-17 loss..
The Titans’ Backup O-Line is horrendous
Levis and Willis both went down four times each, meaning the Titans’ O-Line gave up eight sacks in total today. Rookie Jaelyn Duncan was one of the only guys on the Titans’ O-Line who came to play, but he wasn’t anything special either. Blown assignments, bad communication, and penalties were the main problems, but there were a lot more as well. This is concerning for Ten because a bad backup O-Line is never good, especially with the number of injuries this team has faced in the past couple of years. We better hope the starting five-line can stay healthy for most of the season….
Malik Willis has improved… a lot
Willis had a pretty good game today, minus the two turnovers. The second-year QB just looks more comfortable out there and definitely used his off-season time well. He evaded pressure well, had decent pocket presence, and was pretty accurate. His two turnovers weren’t entirely his fault, but we would like to see him improve in that aspect. Overall, Willis showed drastic improvement today, and is a lock to make the Titans’ roster…
Spears and Chestnut should be RB2 and RB3
Tyjae Spears and Julius Chestnut both played excellent games today. Spears started the game with a couple of tough runs and also showed his value in the receiving game. Chestnut had a massive 24-yard run and was arguably the Titans’ best offensive player today. Though Haskins did score a TD, Spears, and Chestnut are both better players and should complement Derrick Henry well…
An Up and Down day for the Defense
The Titans’ defense was able to come away with three turnovers but also gave up some explosive plays early. D.J. Moore’s 60-yard TD was a well-executed play by Chicago, but it could’ve been prevented by the defense. Same thing with Khalil Herbert’s 56-yard TD, which was the last play of Justin Field’s day. Even though these plays did happen, the defense kept the Titans in the game by forcing turnovers and field goals. Overall, there were a few more downs than ups for the defense, but it was still a solid performance….
Will Levis Growing Pains
Levis had a ton of great moments today and some bad moments. He led an excellent TD drive in the second quarter, which finished with a Haskins TD. The start of the game was rough, but the former WildCat gained some momentum down the stretch of the game. The final interception wasn’t great, but it was at the end of the game with less than 20 seconds left. The O-Line was terrible, so it is really hard to evaluate the performance of the rookie, but it wasn’t bad. Expect a much more polished and controlled Levis next week vs the Vikings…