The Titans fired head coach Brian Callahan after falling to 1-5.
In Callahan's career in Tennessee, his record by quarterback was far from good.
2-10 with Will Levis
1-4 with Mason Rudolph
1-5 with rookie Cam Ward
While it is hard to win with this caliber of quarterback, the hope was that with the No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward, the trajectory would improve.
It has not.
Not just with wins, but overall offensive stability and performance.
The Titans started games poorly, with predictable play calling and bad schemes, which led to a historic inability to score points, forcing the team to play from behind most of the game.
They used the #4 highest rate of 11 personnel in the first half of games.
They were EXTREMELY predictable based on personnel when they started games.
Looking at first half early downs, when the coach can implement what he wants and is not restricted by game state at all:
If they had 3+ WRs on the field, 89% of the time they passed from shotgun, averaging:
- 3.3 air yards/att (#32)
- 21% of attempts went 10+ yards (#32)
- 16% of attempts went beyond the sticks (#30)
Despite almost everything being thrown short, it wasn't quick at all.
The Titans had the #2 highest pressure rate (43%) because Ward held the ball for 2.8 seconds, #5 longest.
Holding the ball long to throw short is the opposite of ideal.
And despite the shortest target depth in the NFL, the Titans had the lowest completion rate in the NFL on these passes, with just 48%.
And keep in mind, they were in these 3+ WR sets on 67% of passes, #5 highest rate in the NFL, so most of their offense was this nonsense.
When they had fewer than three receivers on the field on these early downs, it was almost always a deep shot:
- 11.8 air yards (#3 in NFL)
- 50% of attempts went 10+ air yards (#3)
- 55% of attempts went beyond the sticks (#1)
Ward operated in shotgun only 22% of the time (#29) and 70% (#5) of the time used play action to throw the ball deep down the field.
With the passing game being so predictable based on personnel usage, the defenses had a head start knowing what was likely to occur.
They then could focus on slowing the run game, which wasn't difficult.
The Titans averaged -0.29 EPA per rush on these early down runs, #31 in the NFL.
Their explosive run rate was 1.6% (#30).
The offensive line, coached by Callahan's father, ranked #31 in yards before contact per rush (0.52).
Overall, it was a bad scheme that was far too predictable and offered no aid to a team with substandard personnel across the board.
The result of this incompetence on offense in the first half of games?
The Titans scored one first half touchdown on 37 drives.
ONE!
They averaged 0.92 points per drive (#32).
They reached the red zone on 8% of drives (#32).
They averaged 18.5 yards per drive (#32).
To show you how bad this is, there hasn't been another team since 2013 to have over 35 offensive drives in the first half of games and fewer than 2 offensive touchdowns.
There are just 3 other teams since 2000 with over 35 offensive drives in the first half and only 1 offensive touchdown:
- 2013 Jaguars
- 2002 Bengals
- 2001 Redskins
