My Two Cents: Will Levis Takes His Lumps, Protection Issues Still Major Problem

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense pounded on Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis on Sunday, and the Titans offense could manage only two field goals in a 20-6 loss. The offensive line is a mess, and there's still a ton to fix. And it sure makes it hard to evaluate the rookie quarterback when he doesn't have any time to throw.

TAMPA, Fla. — There is some truth to being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that was certainly the case for the Tennessee Titans offense on Sunday. They ran into an angry and recently embarrassed Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense, and they exposed all of the flaws in the Titans.

Yep, all of them. 

The Bucs defense, at its best, can be pretty good. They can rush the passer, and they love to hit, and hit hard. They completely dominated on Sunday, spurring the Bucs' 20-6 win at Raymond James Stadium. A week after sitting back and getting embarrassed by Houston's C.J. Stroud, they weren't about to let the same thing happen again at the hands of a rookie quarterback.

Titans quarterback Will Levis was on their hit list — and they hit him often. He was sacked four times, and hit a whopping 13 times. That was the plan, to take advantage of the Titans' awful offensive line and smack Levis around, and it worked to perfection. For the third time this year, Tennessee failed to score a touchdown.

"Oh, it was very aggressive,'' Tampa Bay linebacker Devin White said of the Bucs' defensive game plan. "We were knocking the hell out of No. 8 (Levis), and I think that got him rattled a little bit. 

"But that's the type of team we are, and like I say, Coach (Todd) Bowles knows how to dial it up. It helps our defensive backs, too, because they don't have to try to cover for 15 or 20 seconds. They knew the ball was coming out fast, and they could be aggressive. It works hand in hand.''

That was certainly the case all day long for Levis and the Titans. They only had two good drives all day, and both of those ended in field goals after red-zone failures. It wasn't pretty, watching a game where is seemed almost impossible to win.

This was Levis' third start, and it was his roughest, by far. That four-touchdown debut against Atlanta seems like a long time ago already. Losses at Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay have followed, and the Titans have gone 17 drives now without scoring a touchdown, dating all the way back to the second quarter of the Steelers game.

This isn't all on Levis, of course. Not even close. The Titans' offensive line is a mess. Tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere (shoulder) is on injured reserve, and right guard Daniel Brunskill (ankle) couldn't go Sunday. Left tackle Andre Dillard, who hasn't been good anyway, left early with a concussion.

Dillon Radunz had to switch from right guard to left tackle, and Andrew Rupcich, who's never played in an NFL game before, had to slide in at guard.

It was a struggle for all of them.

Obviously, the pass blocking wasn't good, but they also couldn't get anything going in the running game. Derrick Henry had just 24 yards in 11 carries.

“We didn’t run it very well," Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. “The first drive, there was some good stuff going on there, just didn’t finish that drive off. And whether it’s pressure or (various breakdowns) trying to get the football off, it was a struggle.”

Being able to run the ball would certainly take some of the heat off of Levis. We saw that in the Atlanta win in his debut, when the Titans rushed for 149 yards. They even had 105 at Pittsburgh, but got next to nothing against Tampa Bay.

It all just needs to get better. There's no telling how soon that can happen, but they just need to keep working on it, and keep getting better.

That's what it's always about as a professional. Live and learn, and get better, even with a 3-6 record.

"It's tough. It definitely is,'' Levis said. "We just have to keep doing our thing, keep pushing, and come together as a team. This is when teams can falter and break apart, or they come together and show how strong they really are. We're trying to prove that we can be the second.''

We've talked often about this being a year of transition for the Titans. It's a team with a lot of flaws, on both sides of the ball. But even if they aren't winning games, it has to be about the learning process, too. Levis is the focal point, of course, because he's the quarterback, but this is also a great learning experience for him. 

He's been thrown into the NFL fire, and every experience he has will make him better. We certainly hope so. This journey is as much about 2024 as it is 2023. After the game, I asked Levis about his in-game learning process, what he sees and the adjustments he makes.

That's critical. 

"I think I've been seeing things pretty well. I think there's definitely a few plays here and there in each game that I could point to where either my thought process was a little off, or I saw things a little differently and could have helped us out up front in a certain way. 

"But today I think I saw the throws that were there, a couple definitely that I want to have back. But I think it gives me the confidence that I'm not just going out there guessing. I'm seeing it and I know the throws that are supposed to be there. I just have to do a better job of getting them out and completing more.''

The fans are frustrated, and I get that. But you asked for a rebuild, and you're getting it. It's the price you pay. Sure, Sunday's loss was hard to watch, and there may be more tough moments in 2023, because there are just too many flaws to overcome.

But this is all about Levis learning and seeing it all. The Titans have nearly $100 million in cap space next year, so it's very possible the rebuild can be a quick one. Levis is going to be a big part of that going forward. I have faith in that. I think he's going to be a good NFL quarterback.

It's just going to take time. For him, and for the entire team. 

It's hard to ask fans to be patient, which is why you don't ask. You stick with reality and know that there's a lot of work to be done.

Every single day.

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