Brian Callahan's 'difficult' debut: What's real, what were flukes for Tennessee Titans offense

CHICAGO — It's not supposed to be easy . But it's not supposed to be like that, either.

"Especially in the second half, it just felt like everything we did was difficult," Tennessee Titans coach Brian Callahan said after the 24-17 loss Sunday to the Chicago Bears , his first game as the Titans ' head coach and offensive play caller. "We couldn’t find anything to get positive results outside of a couple things."

It'd be foolish and lazy to draw grand, sweeping conclusions about Callahan's future as a play caller and about the viability of this offense based off one game. Especially because this loss was such a strange one.

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At its best, the Titans' offense hummed. Take the eight-play, 79-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter. It's hard for an offense to stay as ahead of the sticks as the Titans did on this series. Not only did they never face a third down, they never faced a second down of longer than second-and-4.

The machine was oiled so well that the Titans got away with running the same play concept stretching off left tackle twice in a row on the final two plays, including the 26-yard touchdown run.

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Or take the 14-play, 73-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter. Quarterback Will Levis and receiver Calvin Ridley hinted at their potential by converting a third-and-15 with ease on a timing route over the middle. Levis scrambled to turn a third-and-12 into fourth-and-3, and the Titans proved creative on fourth down with an "Emory and Henry" style play that split left tackle JC Latham wide outside the numbers as a lead blocker. Levis took charge for 15 yards on a quarterback lead and showed his arm talent by fitting a 17-yard corner route into a tight window in the back of the end zone for a touchdown.

Then . . . nothing. The Titans averaged 7.1 yards per series on their other 10 drives (not counting the one snap before halftime). Levis turned the ball over on three of his final four possessions. On average, they needed to gain 8.5 yards to convert on third downs. They weren't particularly successful, going 3-for-14.

Perhaps more alarmingly, they needed an average of 8.4 yards to convert on their second downs. Put simply: The Titans weren't gaining yards on first down, they weren't gaining yards on second down and they weren't converting their third downs.

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That clearly isn't good. It also clearly isn't a guarantee of what's to come.

"I’ve seen plenty of games that go like this," Callahan said. "Not as a caller, but I’ve been a part of enough of them. There’s games where it’s just hard trying to find something that you can manufacture some positive yards."

Chicago's defense is good. The Bears return the NFL's No. 1 run defense and an All-Pro cornerback in Jaylon Johnson. The Titans' offense is clearly inhibited by receiver DeAndre Hopkins' injury limitations. Special teams field position didn't do the Titans many favors; they started seven of their 13 drives inside their 30-yard line. The Bears began three of nine drives backed up that far.

And all of this happened on a day where a first-time head coach and play caller with a first-time offensive coordinator as his lieutenant debuted a new offense for a quarterback making just the 10th start of his career protected by a rookie left tackle in a soldout road stadium. With all of the circumstances, it would've been a little more strange if things went smoothly.

A weak first showing doesn't mean doom for an offensive-minded head coach. In Andy Reid's first game, the Philadelphia Eagles turned the ball over four times and threw for only 91 yards. Sean Payton's New Orleans Saints scored 17 points and had to settle for three field goals inside the 10-yard line in his debut. The San Francisco 49ers scored just three points and went 2-for-11 on third downs in Kyle Shanahan's first game. Bill Walsh and Mike Holmgren and Mike Shanahan and Joe Gibbs all lost their first games in charge.

Coaches get better with experience, just like players. But this situation is delicate. Callahan wasn't hired to just revitalize the Titans' offense. He was hired to vitalize it. To modernize it. To make it something it has never been.

That's not the sort of goal that's achieved instantaneously. But every game that goes by without that turnaround being reached is going to feel like an indictment of Callahan's system, however unfair that may be.

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Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com . Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Brian Callahan's 'difficult' debut: What's real, what were flukes for Tennessee Titans offense