NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans ' playoff hopes are over earlier than at any point since 2015 when a coach was fired midseason.
The franchise's third different coach since then is busy trying to build for the future in his debut year.
It certainly doesn't help that team officials are busy trying to sell pricey tickets for the Titans' enclosed stadium scheduled to open in 2027.
Brian Callahan said Monday he knows the NFL is a results-based business, but doesn't feel as if he's coaching for his job. The Titans (3-10) were eliminated by a 10-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, a week earlier than their postseason hopes ended in 2023 and helped cost Mike Vrabel his coaching job.
“I’m not naive and I don’t like stick my head in the sand,” Callahan said. "I understand how all of it works, but that’s not anything I’ve focused on that.”
Callahan said he was honest with the Titans, who now sit at the bottom of the AFC South. What's left is building a foundation for the future.
“How we finish the season matters,” Callahan said.
The defense. After one of the Titans' worst showings all season and with three starters out with injuries, the Titans defense held an opponent to a season low in points even if facing a backup quarterback. They also came up with two interceptions to help Tennessee win the turnover battle for a team that came in next to last in the NFL in turnover margin.
The problem? All 10 points were allowed in the fourth quarter. Safety Amani Hooker said the defense can only focus on mowing their own grass, now more than ever with only four games left. Now the Titans must look themselves in the mirror because all of the NFL will see how they play.
The offense couldn't find the end zone and finished with a season low in points. The Titans turned it over on downs twice inside the Jaguars 9 and managed only two Nick Folk field goals against what had been the NFL’s worst defense in yards allowed per game and next to last in points allowed.
Callahan's decision to try a pass after a takeaway on the final play of the first half left Will Levis needing a shot in his right, throwing shoulder for the pain from a hard sack where rookie left tackle JC Latham was beaten. It's the same shoulder that sidelined Levis for three games with a sprained AC joint.
Levis missed a wide-open Chig Okonkwo in the end zone. Late in the game, Levis could've thrown a quicker ball to Calvin Ridley, who also had room to run for the first down only to go out of bounds. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine couldn't haul in a pass on fourth down in the end zone where Ridley also was open.
Cornerback Chidobe Awuzie. A key free agent signee in March, Awuzie had been out since Sept. 22 and on injured reserve with a groin injury. He returned and got the first interception for the Titans' defense — also his first this season.
RT Nicholas Petit-Frere. The third-year lineman out of Ohio State is tied for the team lead with nine penalties, eight that have stopped drives. Two of those came against the Jaguars, the second on the Titans' final play turning a fourth-and-10 into fourth-and-15 before Levis's last-gasp incompletion.
Callahan said he expects Levis will be OK after being able to finish the game, though he said they will know more Wednesday. CB Roger McCreary (shoulder) might be able to return after not practicing last week.
1 — Two home games remain. Right now, the Titans are flirting with matching the franchise low for home wins at Nissan Stadium set in 2014 and 2015 during a 5-27 stretch where three of those wins came on the road.
Show signs of life on offense. Only New England (17) and the Giants (14.9) are scoring fewer than Tennessee's 17.5 points a game this season. More points will be needed to beat Cincinnati in a rematch against Callahan's old boss Zac Taylor on Sunday.
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