With Bills, Lions looming, what can Tennessee Titans do to prevent further damage?

The Tennessee Titans blew a very winnable game against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday at home, falling 20-17 in a game where the Titans led from the 11-minute mark in the second quarter until midway through the fourth.

Quarterback Will Levis and the offense had five chances in the fourth quarter to either extend or retake the lead, but all positive momentum collapsed with two three-and-outs, a quick interception, a stall before the two-minute warning and a doomed attempt at playing the lateral game in the game's final seconds.

Put it all together and the Titans are 1-4, heading into consecutive games on the road against the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions, two of the league's most fearsome Super Bowl contenders. It's hard to look at the upcoming slate and not see the Titans falling to 1-6 by the end of October. Let that happen — even with a late-season schedule stacked with conference and division games — and the phrases "tank for draft position" and "start looking for a new answer at quarterback" become all but expected.

Is this fate unavoidable for the Titans? Let's take a look at some big-picture winners and losers thus far that could be the key to avoiding the Halloween early checkout.

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Loser: The Will Levis-Brian Callahan partnership

The Titans hired coach Brian Callahan to get the most out of Levis. So far, this seemingly has worked only in getting Levis to start completing a significantly higher volume of his passes. Big plays are down. Turnovers are up. Facing a Colts team Sunday that went into Week 6 with the NFL's worst defense, the Titans completed just two passes that gained more than 10 yards. One of them was the last scrimmage play when the Colts had their defensive backs lined up in Clarksville.

There's nothing inherently wrong with a short-yardage-focused, dink-and-dunk-style offense. The problem is that the version the Titans are running isn't producing results. Callahan and Levis need to either prove they can sustain an offense built around the short stuff or figure out ways to incorporate big plays more successfully. This middle ground isn't working, and it won't be enough to keep things competitive against Detroit (4-1) or Buffalo (3-2 before its "Monday Night Football" game against the Jets).

Winner: The JC Latham pick and (theoretical) O-line progress

Two games isn't a big enough sample to say the offensive line has course-corrected after those awful performances against Chicago, the New York Jets and Green Bay. But things have been pretty solid since the first three weeks, culminating in the first sack-free performance since 2021.

The main thing the Titans needed this season from JC Latham, their 2024 first-round left tackle, was for him to merely be average and he'd be a massive upgrade over his predecessors. He has done that and more, and now with Leroy Watson IV in position to possibly take over at right tackle, it's the first time in a long time the Titans can feel good about their O-line.

Again: No one's saying having a unit that's bottom 10 in pressure rate is a good thing. But not being last is progress, and having building blocks to feel good about is huge.

Loser: Pass rush competency

The last pass rusher the Titans used a Day 1 or Day 2 NFL draft pick on is the longest-tenured player on the roster right now. It's fair to say this organization hasn't done a great job of investing in homegrown edge talent. That deficiency is starting to show.

Harold Landry III is still a good player, but the Titans have practically no other playmakers to stress quarterbacks. It's putting too much pressure on the defensive backs and giving opponents too many opportunities to stay in rhythm. If this issue isn't fixed, either by bringing in new talent or by changing the scheme to get more rushers free, dropback quarterbacks will be able to carve through the Titans' defense without really having to move, as Joe Flacco did Sunday.

Winner: Base defense

The Titans' defense is good in a strange, almost frustrating way. It doesn't create turnovers, sacks or tackles-for-loss particularly well. It's not great in scripted situations or end-of-half drills or clutch moments. But in ordinary, run-of-the-mill football series, this defense might be the league's best. There's something to be said about that.

Past Titans defenses were all bend-don't-break. This defense is a little more don't bend, sometimes break. It's fascinating as a football watcher, but probably infuriating for fans who want one of the NFL's top units to play up to its potential for full games. For now, give the unit credit for doing what it's supposed to in the moments that define most of a football game, and rest assured knowing this version of defense is more fixable than the alternative.

Loser: Knowing how to win

Let's finish this by thinking about the Lions and the Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans and the Minnesota Vikings and whatever team you like to think of as a Super Bowl contender. Those teams know how to win big. The Lions just won a game 47-9, for Pete's sake.

They also, crucially, know how to win close. The six teams above are 17-4 in games decided by eight points or fewer this season. Nearly two-thirds of their wins came in close games. Meanwhile, in three games. the Titans squandered opportunities to win in the fourth quarter.

Close games are going to happen. Close games might just happen against the best teams in the NFL. If the Titans have any hopes of keeping fans from checking out before November, figuring out what it takes to keep things together in those types of games is the most important factor.

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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: With Bills, Lions looming, what can Tennessee Titans do to prevent further damage?