2024-09-23 15:20:02
NASHVILLE – The rough start to the 2024 season continued on Sunday for the Tennessee Titans.
The Titans lost 30-14 to the Green Bay Packers before a sun-baked crowd at Nissan Stadium.
With the loss, the Titans dropped to 0-3.
“At the end of the day, I have not done a good enough job,” Coach Brian Callahan said after the game. “We’re an 0 and 3 football team, and I’m an 0 and 3 head coach. It’s embarrassing and disappointing. I have to be a lot better than I’ve been. This is frustrating and unfortunate, and not what I thought we were capable of to start the season.”
Quarterback Will Levis completed 26 of 34 passes for 260 yards and two touchdowns in the contest, but he was intercepted twice (one INT was returned for a touchdown) and he also fumbled while being sacked. Levis was under consistent pressure when he dropped back to throw it, and he was sacked eight times in the contest.
“It’s a great defense,” Levis said of the Packers, “but we definitely didn’t do our job on offense to the best of our ability.
“I’m this team’s quarterback, and every time we take the field and succeed or we’re defeated, I feel like it’s on me. I am a big part of that and I know that and I have to make sure I bring my A game every Sunday to not put our team in tough spots like I know that I have in these few games, turning the ball over. It’s tough. … I’m the quarterback of an 0 and 3 football team and that’s not something anybody wants to say.”
On this day, however, Tennessee’s No.1 ranked defense also couldn’t get stops when the team needed it.
Malik Willis started at quarterback for the Packers, and they started fast.
The Titans didn’t tackle well, and they didn’t make any game-changing plays as Green Bay controlled the ball, and the game. The Packers racked up 378 yards of offense compared to just 237 for the Titans.
“We have to be better,” safety Quandre Diggs. “We didn’t play well today.”
The Packers jumped ahead 7-0 on a five-yard touchdown run by Willis, which capped a long drive on their opening series.
But the Titans answered back quickly, as Levis guided a 10-play, 70-yard drive and capped it off with a one-yard touchdown pass to tight end Nick Vannett.
The rest of the day, however, was mostly filled with frustration.
The Packers jumped back ahead 10-7 on a 21-yard field goal by kicker Brayden Narveson, before making it 17-7 on a 35-yard interception return by Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander late in the first quarter.
A 26-yard field goal by Narveson on the final play of the first half gave the Packers a 20-7 lead at halftime.
The Packers extended their lead to 27-7 on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Willis to Emanuel Wilson with 8:25 left in the third quarter.
The Titans showed some life midway through the third quarter on a seven-play, 68-yard drive that was capped off with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Levis to receiver DeAndre Hopkins with 4:55 left in third.
But the Titans couldn’t sustain drives or stage a rally in the fourth quarter, and the Packers extended their lead to 30-14 with 3:29 left on a 47-yard field goal by Narveson.
The Titans return to action next Monday night at the Miami Dolphins.
“It’s a grown man’s league,” defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons said. “Nobody is going to come save us. At the end of the day, we have to man up. It don’t stop. We have to play a game on Monday night, and I’m sure they’re going to try and embarrass us on Monday night.”
