By BLAKE BEDDINGFIELD, special contributor

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans versus the Steelers was a matchup between two average NFL teams, that are undisciplined, highly penalized (total of 17 accepted penalties) and lacking identities in 2023. Both teams once prided themselves on being tough defensive teams that rushed the passer and would do just enough on offense to win ball games by controlling the ball and limiting turnovers.  

Thursday night the Titans gave up 326 total yards and the Steelers gave up 340 yards to mediocre NFL offenses.  

Neither team has established an identity in the 2023 season and is moving forward with their young quarterbacks with what they are capable of providing.  

The Titans should feel good about Will Levis after his first two starts, but signs of inexperience showed in the second half of the Steeler game. 

PITTSBURGH – The Titans have changed their quarterback, but they haven’t changed their thinking.

Ryan Tannehill-style conservativism used with Will Levis, who made multiple throws as he was hit or with defenders bearing down, was a big factor in the Titans' 20-16 loss at Acrisure Stadium.

Instead of returning to Nashville at 4-4 in a great position, Tennessee is 3-5 and left to scratch and claw with little realistic hope of registering what will be considered a successful season.

It might have all been different if they’d shown a little more faith and taken a little more risk. 

But Mike Vrabel and Tim Kelly played the game thinking anything they could get from Nick Folk would be of supreme value, while their opponent, the similarly low-scoring Steelers, found enough plays to get to the end zone when they needed to. [Unlocked]

By MIKE HERNDON, columnist

What the Titans got from rookie quarterback Will Levis in his NFL debut was more than anyone could have reasonably expected. Levis threw for four touchdowns – tying an NFL record for a debut performance that he now shares with Marcus Mariota and Fran Tarkenton – to go along with 238 yards and a 65.5 percent completion rate.

Let’s talk, briefly, about the comparison to Mariota’s debut because there are some major differences between the two performances that, to me, make Levis’ far more impressive. For one, none of Mariota’s four touchdown passes traveled more than 15 yards in the air. They were good, accurate throws, but none were as eye-popping as Levis’ two second-half tosses.

This Day In History: @Titans rookie QB Marcus Mariota had a HISTORIC @NFL debut.

He had 4 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and a 158.3 passer rating. Mariota became the 1st QB in the modern era to post a perfect passer rating in his first career start. #TDIH (Sept. 2015) pic.twitter.com/VmAOrVUWJw

— NFL Legacy (@NFLLegacy) September 13, 2018

But also, the 2015 Bucs proved to be one of the worst defenses in football, allowing 26.1 points per game, good for

By BLAKE BEDDINGFIELD, special correspondent

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Thursday is a quick turnaround for the Titans. 

The Titans played well in all phases on Sunday versus the Falcons but get very little time to enjoy it. That may be a good thing because it also gives the opponent a short window to dissect and plan against the Titans’ new offensive look under rookie quarterback Will Levis.

The Steelers and Falcons have a lot of similarities to their offensive units. They’ve been low-scoring teams with average-to-poor quarterback play.

But that is where the similarities stop. The Steelers have a pass rush which the Falcons did not. The Steelers have arguably the best edge pass rusher in the league in T.J Watt and with his bookend rush partner Alex Highsmith, Pittsburgh has the best duo in the NFL. Watt has 8.5 sacks; Watt and Highsmith each have two fumbles caused.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The win over Atlanta wasn't just a win, it was a recharging win.

Will Levis isn't likely to duplicate his debut performance Thursday night in Pittsburgh. But he didn't just re-energize a fan base, he reinvigorated a locker room. I talked to a lot of guys about that new vibe, because it's so important. And that's where The Paul Kuharsky Podcast kicks off this week.

The new episode awaits you on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeart and YouTube, which is below.

Other subjects I dive into:

By JAKE DOWNARD

Jake Downard is a law student who creates NFL and NBA content focused on analytics on Twitter as @JakeAndBall. He also works with fanspo.com. A glossary of the analytics terms he uses is at the bottom of the piece.

I am naturally optimistic. If you watched the first six games this season, you understand that it is easy to latch onto the positives, even if they were few and far between. In my Ravens review, I discussed the similarities between Kentucky’s offense and the offense that Tim Kelly is working to implement in Nashville. Will Levis’ time to throw, average depth of target, and completion percentage in 2021 were very similar to that of Ryan Tannehill this season. My conclusion was: why not give the young guy a shot against Arthur Smith and the Atlanta Falcons? 

Here is a fun question to get things started: how many quarterbacks have thrown for 230 passing yards, 4 touchdowns, and no interceptions in their NFL debut in the Super Bowl Era? The correct answer is one quarterback. His name is William Donovan Levis, he is the quarterback of the Tennessee Titans for the foreseeable future, and he boat-raced expectations against a very good Falcons defense on Sunday. The only other quarterback in the history of the NFL to put up those numbers or better in a debut was Fran Tarkenton way back in 1961. [Unlocked]

By BLAKE BEDDINGFIELD, special correspondent

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans were in desperate need of a game like they had on Sunday.

The offensive explosion couldn’t have been scripted any better.

Derrick Henry had 22 carries for 101 yards. DeAndre Hopkins: Four receptions for 128 yards and three touchdowns.

Supplemental players: Chig Okonkwo with four receptions while Kyle Phillips had three. The Titans’ offensive line gave up only two sacks.  

There is still more potential ahead with Treylon Burks and Tyjae Spears not having productive days in terms of final stat production. Both had successful moments throughout the game.

None of the team’s veteran players’ success compared to the positive play of rookie quarterback Will Levis.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The best quarterback ever to wear the Houston Oilers oil derrick logo was at Nissan Stadium, one of an expected 170 franchise alumni expected to watch the Titans play the Falcons in throwback uniforms.

Warren Moon may have seen the organization's next great quarterback's debut, with Will Levis wearing the same threads while throwing four touchdowns in his NFL debut, a 28-23 win.

"Very impressive performance by Will in his first start," Moon told me by text. "He showed great poise in the pocket, nice pace and command of the huddle and showed off his big arm several times for explosive plays. Excellent confidence booster game for Will and the team."

Did Levis remind Moon, a Pro Football Hall of Famer of anybody?