Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan owns one thing he regrets from Week 1 loss

NASHVILLE - A lot of things went wrong for the Tennessee Titans in the second half of their Week 1 loss to the Chicago Bears.

Tennessee recorded just 55 net yards of offense after halftime while turning the ball over three times and having one punt blocked. It was an implosion of historic measures and there's plenty of blame to be thrown around.

The decision making of quarterback Will Levis is an obvious issue. Levis threw an unnecessary and unforced pick six to Bears CB Tyrique Stevenson that flipped the game and put Chicago ahead for good.

Titans special teams let up a 67-yard kick return that put the Bears in field goal range before halftime and had a punt blocked and returned for a touchdown.

Tennessee's offensive line was not good enough. Levis was the second most pressured quarterback in the NFL in Week 1. The left side of the line was particularly poor. JC Latham and Peter Skoronski allowed a combined 10 pressures according to PFF.

Then there's head coach Brian Callahan, who is not absolved of all blame either. Callahan never got into a rhythm as a playcaller on Sunday. I didn't love the number of passes thrown behind the line of scrimmage or within five yards of the line of scrimmage. I'd love to see Levis taking more chances down the field in the future. His arm talent is arguably his best trait.

Even Callahan has been able to look in the mirror and point out some areas in which he needs to be better. One of the things the first-year head coach pointed out on Monday was the usage of his running backs.

Running back touches

We have heard all offseason and training camp about how Tyjae Spears and Tony Pollard are going to get an even split of touches and be used "interchangeably" throughout the 2024 season., But on Sunday, the explosive Spears was not given enough opportunities with the ball.

Tony Pollard got 16 carries while Spears got just four (4). Both backs were targeted four times in the passing game.

"I think Tony (Pollard) ran the ball well. He was doing a nice job. I'd like to get more for Tyjae (Spears), I'd like to get him going a little bit more," said Callahan in Monday's press conference. "We can make that division of labor probably a little closer to equal, I think, at the end of the day. Tyjae found his way into the field a little more on some of the third downs. But yeah, I would like that to be a little more even and for Tyjae to get a little more work too. I regret that part of it."

Pollard shined in his Titans debut. There's not doubt about that. But the Titans definitely need to get Spears move involved in the offense moving froward

As a rookie, Spears proved just how valuable he can be to the Titans' offense. He finished 2023 with an impressive 4.5 yards per carry despite lackluster blocking form this offensive line. He also caught over 50 passes. Some of Will Levis' best performances last season were aided by what Spears could do as a pass catcher.

Even on Sunday with limited reps, Spears went for 5.3 yards per carry. He has been efficient every step of the way.

Spears is too valuable and explosive to not get him the ball. It's going to be on Brian Callahan to correct that issue and give his playmakers a shot. I'd like to see the split between Pollard and Spears be close to an even 50-50 against the New York Jets in Week 2.

New York struggled to defense the run against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1 and Tennessee will need to exploit that if they want to right the ship for the home opener.

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