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Podcast: The Titans' Two Biggest Games Left

Podcast: The Titans' Two Biggest Games Left

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Titans have eight games left. They'll play to win all eight. We have no idea if they can recover from the issues that ail them to get that done, though DraftKings has it at +130 that they get over 6.5 wins.

I think two games rank as more important than the rest: The two against the Texans.

The Paul Kuharsky PodcastAmy Adams Strunk may have a solid understanding of the roster issues and be willing to give Mike Vrabel a chance to rebuild the roster with Ran Carthon with another draft and a lot of salary cap money. But the Adams family, Of the Houston area, didn't like the way things ended there and doesn't like the team that replaced the Oilers and got the stadium they couldn't.

That the Texans are an NFL sweetheart at 5-4 with a rookie quarterback a year after a 3-13-1 season must sting, and good showings against them might soften the Titans' poor season.

That's where we commence this week's episode of The Paul Kuharsky Podcast.

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

Other subjects I dive into:

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Titans Can’t Afford To Worry About Idea Of 'Ruining' Will Levis

Titans Can’t Afford To Worry About Idea Of 'Ruining' Will Levis

By MIKE HERNDON, columnist

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the 2023 Tennessee Titans have a major offensive line issue on their hands. Jake Downard gave a great detailed breakdown of some numbers that illustrate just how acute that issue is for Tim Kelly’s offense here at PK.com earlier this week, but here are a few more.

Will Levis
Will Levis/ Angie Flatt

Out of 36 quarterbacks with at least 100 dropbacks this season, Will Levis has been under siege the second most often, seeing pressure on a whopping 46.6 percent of his dropbacks. Only Justin Fields’ 49.5 percent rate is higher per PFF charting.

However, that number becomes even more damning when you consider the fact that Levis is currently the sixth quickest passer out of that group when it comes to average time to throw at 3.05 seconds per dropback. Fields, by contrast, is the seventh slowest, taking 3.87 seconds in the pocket on average. Levis is the only one above a 40 percent pressure rate among the ten fastest quarterbacks from snap to throw. The next closest is teammate Ryan Tannehill, who was pressured on 38.6 percent of his dropbacks.

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Analytical Review of the Titans' Offensive Line

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

In my previous pieces, I’ve said it does not take a spreadsheet to identify clear issues. You would be hard-pressed to find anybody who watches Titans games and does not believe the offensive line is a massive problem. It jumps off the TV as we sit at home on Sunday and watch the games, it is a clear concern when we sit in our seats at Nissan Stadium and see Joey Bosa winning on the edge over and over, and it scares the hell out of fans as they re-watch highlights of their QB of the future.

 

Dillon Radunz and Andre Dillard in front of Ryan Tannehill. Photo by Angie Flatt
Dillon Radunz and Andre Dillard in front of Ryan Tannehill/ Angie Flatt

As the Titans cross over into the second half of the season with a record of 3-6, what better time to get into an in-depth review of the offensive line? [Unlocked]

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On The Titans: Will Levis' Beatings, An Unwillingness To Shop For Help

Will LevisNASHVILLE, Tenn. – By the count of game statisticians, Will Levis has taken 34 hits as the Titans’ starting quarterback. 

At that rate, defenses will pop him 102 times in 11 games. He’s tough and he’s got resolve, but regular beatings get to guys. 

David Carr, Tim Couch, Josh Freeman and Joey Harrington are among the quarterbacks who might have grown into something but never had a chance because they got hit so much so early it changed their constitutions.

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PK TV: Bucs 20, Titans 6

PK TV: Bucs 20, Titans 6

TAMPA, Fla. -- So the quarterback who's the reason for hope had no chance in the Titans' 20-6 loss here at Raymond James Stadium. The Bucs sacked Will Levis four times and hit him nine more. That's 23 hits in the last two games.

He's rugged, but that's a lot. I don't like to question effort, but this felt like a lifeless team to me from PK TVpress-box level. I'll certainly agree with Mike Vrabel that execution was poor.

It's hard to understand, kind of, until you remind yourself of the talent. They just don't have a lot.

The plug-and-play magic we saw from Vrabel in the first three years is gone. We wanted to see Dillon Radunz and we watched him kill a drive with false starts on consecutive snaps.

Things were just a mess.

The Bucs don't have a lot of talent, but we saw their best guy be the best guy on the field. Mike Evans caught six passes for 143 yards and a score where he dragged Kristian Fulton and Azeez Al-Shaair into the end zone.

Many of you came to vent about this one at the private Facebook page or on YouTube below. Fittingly some machines nearby were beeping as if something was on life-support. Give it a rewatch.

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Why Can't The Titans Execute Better Than That? It's The 'Talent'

Why Can't The Titans Execute Better Than That? It's The 'Talent'

TAMPA, Fla. – In a post-game locker road after a road game, players, equipment men and media need to tread carefully. Scattered chairs, equipment bags and shoes can make for a bit of a minefield.

But that’s not all the Titans were tip-toeing around Sunday in the bowels of Raymond James Stadium after a halfhearted 20-6 loss to the Bucs that dropped them to 3-6.

Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis (8) is sacked by Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Shaquil Barrett (7) during the first quarter at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023.
Will Levis/ © Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

“Effort is not about execution,” Mike Vrabel said. “We don’t want to confuse those two when I talk about this here.”

If the Titans are prepared and playing hard, then how can the execution be as poor as it was in this game, when the team managed 3.5 yards per offensive play, got just nine yards per pass on three completions to DeAndre Hopkins while Mike Evans torched them for 23.8 on his six and allowed four sacks, nine additional hits and constant pressure on rookie Will Levis?

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Too Few Titans Are Getting Better As Season Progresses

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Eighteen of the Titans 24 players who see the most action when healthy have five years of experience or less.

Those players should still be ascending.

Roger McCreary
Roger McCreary/ Courtesy Tennessee Titans

But roughly midway through the 2023 season, how many are showing steady, overall progress?

Mike Vrabel wouldn’t touch the question this week when I asked him for examples beyond three obvious players who top this list. And I can understand game-by-game charting can be dangerous – you can be making gains and have some occasional poor outings. 

I asked Derrick Henry about how he gauged his progression as a young player.

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PK TV: The Titans Ahead Of Tampa Bay

PK TVNASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Will Levis is officially in that starting lineup and Ryan Tannehill is officially out of it.

The injury report doesn't look great with Sean Murphy-Bunting and Daniel Brunskill out of practice so far this week.

The Buccaneers, however, have lost four games in a row and they don't top 20 points a game just like the Titans.

So Levis could have a favorable matchup against a team with banged-up corners on Sunday. He's the primary and secondary cause for excitement for Titans fans at this point and it's understandable. I shared this earlier and the deep heat is an obvious difference from what Ryan Tannehill was able to do before the injury-prompted change.

So at halftime of Thursday Night Football, we chatted about all things Titans on the private Facebook page and on YouTube which you can find below. Enjoy yourself a nice rewatch.

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