This story was originally published by Dead Spin
Everything that could go wrong seemingly did for the Tennessee Titans over the first 13 quarters of their season.
After opening the campaign with three straight losses, Tennessee lost starting quarterback Will Levis to a right shoulder injury about eight minutes into Monday night’s meeting with the Miami Dolphins.
Mason Rudolph stepped in under center and barely had to do anything to lead the Titans to a 31-12 drubbing of Miami. Running backs Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears each rushed for a touchdown and Nick Folk matched a career high with five field goals, overshadowing Rudolph’s 85-yard performance on 9-of-17 passing.
What Rudolph didn’t do was give the ball away, something that Levis has done more than anyone in the entire NFL.
The 25-year-old couldn’t even resist the thought of not making a mistake before his premature departure on Monday, throwing a pick on the game’s opening drive. He has a league-leading nine turnovers on the season (six interceptions, three lost fumbles), recording no less than two in each of his first three games.
So, you’d think now would be the perfect time for Tennessee first-year coach Brian Callahan to make a change at quarterback, right?
Guess again.
Following the rout of the Dolphins, Callahan said that Levis is “our starter when he’s healthy and we’re ready to roll with him.”
Someday those might be known as Callahan’s famous last words, because if he really does end up sticking with Levis, there’s no way he lasts more than two years in Tennessee.
You could almost pin the blame solely on Levis for the Titans’ 0-3 start. Tennessee’s defense certainly did its job, surrendering the fifth-fewest yards in the NFL through the first three weeks of the season (791).
It then held Miami to 184 yards on Monday. Every other team in the league has given up at least 1,026 yards, 51 more than what the stingy Titans have coughed up (975).
And if results aren’t enough to convince Callahan to move on from Levis, the coach needs to hop on social media.
Since Week 1, there’s been a running count of photos and videos of Levis making bonehead mistakes. DraftKings and popular X account “NFL Memes” have both joined in on the gag, and hundreds of thousands of other social media users are also scouring the World Wide Web for embarrassing Levis moments.
Picking up a win on Monday was huge for Tennessee. Granted, it came against a Dolphins team that would probably struggle at the junior varsity level in high school at the moment, but the Titans are still 1-3 because of it. The season isn’t lost just yet.
But it will be soon if Levis keeps getting chances to direct this offense.
We’re not ready to say that Levis, a second-round pick in the 2023 draft, is a complete bust. He is, however, heading in that direction. Maybe he gets benched by Tennessee, then thrives somewhere else, though it seems unlikely that’s how his story is meant to unfold.
It’s time for the Titans to look elsewhere for their signal-caller of the future. If they don’t, here’s to hoping the next Levis meme is just as good as the last one.
