Meet the new boss. He’s incrementally different in small, borderline-imperceptible ways from the old boss.
The Tennessee Titans lost the first game of coach Mike McCoy interimship on Oct. 19, turning an early lead into a 31-13 defeat at the hands of coach Mike Vrabel and the New England Patriots.
Just six days after firing coach Brian Callahan for a series of performances deemed unacceptable, the Titans came out and lost by three scores, were outgained by 132 yards, turned the ball over twice, gave up five sacks, only converted 30% of their third downs, allowed 175 rushing yards, were out-possessed by almost 15 minutes and didn’t break into the red zone as an offense.
So much for the interim bump.
“We got off to a fast start. We got off to a better start,” McCoy said when asked if the Titans did or achieved anything appreciably different in this game than in the first six that resulted in Callahan’s ousting. “The way we played in the first half as a whole, until the last couple minutes. I think we did a nice job there.”
That part is true, but it’s hard to give too much credit to the regime change for that fast start when neither the coach nor his players seem to believe change made it possible. The Titans scored 10 points on their first two series, embarking on a six-play, 34-yard drive followed by a three-play, 59-yard drive. The capper was a 38-yard heave from rookie quarterback Cam Ward to rookie receiver Chimere Dike on a beauty of a throw made possible because of an impressive block in space by rookie tight end Gunnar Helm.
It’s the kind of play that signals the Titans’ future. It’s also a play, Ward admits, that’s been in the playbook for three or four weeks. It worked, and that’s nothing to scoff at given the Titans’ zero touchdowns in the first quarter all season to that point. Scoring 10 points in the first quarter is a significant step forward.
Just not one that was borne out of McCoy’s replacing Callahan.
“I don’t think we reinvented the wheel or anything,” Titans guard Peter Skoronski said. “Those were relatively simple plays we’ve been running since training camp. I just think the execution went really well, and the play calls kind of complemented each other. Nothing really big changed. It was just doing what we’ve done and executing the plan.”
“It’s not about the simplicity,” McCoy said. “It’s, ‘What do our players do best?’ That’s what we’re always going to look at. Every play on that call sheet, you think it’s a good play. That’s why it’s on there. I think we’re going to always, every time you go into a game plan from week-to-week you think, ‘What is the best way to approach this team and what is the best way for this football team to go down and move the ball and score points offensively?’ “
Overnight change is hard to come by in Week 7 of an NFL season. Right tackle JC Latham said this time of year, there’s no time to change anything but mindset. He thinks he and his teammates on the offensive line did in a small measure, shifting perspectives to avoid playing the “blame game” and trying to prevent things from getting worse.
This isn’t to say nothing changed practically. The quick start was one thing. The penalty count was as low as its been all year. Ward set season-highs in passer rating, completion percentage and yards per attempt.
On defense, there was even less change. Throughout the week, defenders were adamant the status quo hadn’t been affected. Safety Amani Hooker reaffirmed that after the game. And that makes sense. No one got the pink slip on defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson’s staff. Life goes on.
The loss marked the fifth time in seven games the Titans have lost by 10 or more points, and the fourth time they’ve been outgained by 100 or more yards. It’s the second time the Titans failed to enter the red zone, the third time cornerback L’Jarius Sneed has been beaten for a gain longer than 35 yards, the fourth time the Titans have allowed five or more sacks, the sixth time the Titans allowed 100 or more rushing yards and the seventh time the offense converted 40% or fewer of its third downs.
Firing Callahan didn’t magically solve any of these problems.
But at least one key player can see the vision through the miscues.
“We’re starting to feel it click,” Ward said. “Nothing really changed. Coach Callahan is a great coach. He’s a guy who took a chance on me, so I’m forever grateful to him. But we’ve got to continue to play complementary football. We did it for a half, we didn’t do it for the next half. So that’s the next improvement for us.”
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X @nicksuss. Subscribe to the Talkin’ Titans newsletter for updates sent directly to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Did Titans, Mike McCoy change in any way for ugly loss vs Patriots?
