The New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans both changed head coaches after the 2023 season. The former agreed to mutually part ways with Bill Belichick after a quarter century together, while the latter
fired Mike Vrabel in a somewhat surprising move. Since then, the two organizations made more moves: Jerod Mayo, Belichick’s heir handpicked by owner Robert Kraft, was fired after one disastrous season; the Titans, meanwhile, let go of Vrabel’s successor Brian Callahan just this week.
Needless to say that Callahan’s dismissal six days before the Patriots are set to visit Nissan Stadium adds yet another story to Vrabel’s return to his old stomping grounds. While that makes the Titans somewhat unpredictable, here is what we know about them up until this point in the season.
Titans key stats
Well, the Titans just fired their coach. You can probably guess that the stats rundown will not look pretty.
Record: 1-5 (4th AFC South)
Scoring differential: -78 (31st)
Turnover differential: -1 (t-15th)
Offense: 13.8 points/game (31st), 232.3 yards/game (32nd), 10 giveaways (t-28th), -0.220 EPA/dropback (31st), -0.156 EPA/run (29th)
Defense: 26.8 points/game (26th), 343.3 yards/game (22nd), 9 takeaways (t-5th), 0.177 EPA/dropback (25th), -0.039 EPA/run (24th)
As can be seen, the Titans have been a bottom-tier team virtually across the board. The only number that stands out in a positive way is the ability to create turnovers: Tennessee is tied for fifth in the league in takeaways, having benefitted from four interceptions and five fumbles. And yet, despite those, the club has been unable to generate any momentum particularly on offense.
And make no mistake, being led by a rookie quarterback is not the only issue for Tennessee’s offense. The offense as a whole has struggled resulting in last-place rankings in both yards (20.8) and points (1.15) per drive on top of those stats above.
And to make matters worse, the defense — despite its opportunism — has not been a whole lot better. Better, yes, but not enough to compensate for an anemic offensive attack.
Titans 2025 season
The Titans wouldn’t have fired Brian Callahan in early October if they hadn’t played some bad football to this point. Their 1-5 record is proof of that, as is the look at those specific games.
Week 1: 20-12 loss at Denver Broncos (0-1)
Week 2: 33-19 loss vs. Los Angeles Rams (0-2)
Week 3: 41-20 loss vs. Indianapolis Colts (0-3)
Week 4: 26-0 loss at Houston Texans (0-4)
Week 5: 22-21 win at Arizona Cardinals (1-4)
Week 6: 20-10 loss at Las Vegas Raiders (1-5)
Callahan being removed from his position after the latest loss to the Raiders might have had little to do with that particular game. In actuality, it seems like the blowout losses against the Colts and Texans already set the stage for a change, with the subsequent upset win in Arizona merely pushing the inevitable back a week.
Titans active roster
(Note: Roster up-to-date as of Oct. 15, 5 a.m. ET; *denotes nominal starter)
Quarterback (2): Cam Ward* (1), Brandon Allen (10)
Running back (3): Tony Pollard* (20), Tyjae Spears (2), Julius Chestnut (36)
Wide receiver (6): Elic Ayomanor* (5), Calvin Ridley* (0), Chimere Dike* (17 | KR/PR), Tyler Lockett (4), Van Jefferson (11), Bryce Oliver (80)
Tight end (3): Chigoziem Okonkwo* (85), Gunnar Helm (84), David Martin-Robinson (88)
Offensive tackle (4): Dan Moore Jr.* (75 | LT), J.C. Latham* (55 | RT), Olisaemeka Udoh (72), Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson (78)
Interior offensive line (6): Peter Skoronski* (77 | LG), Lloyd Cushenberry III* (79 | C), Kevin Zeitler* (70 | RG), Blake Hance (73), Corey Levin (62), Jackson Slater (64)
Interior defensive line (5): Jeffery Simmons* (98), Sebastian Joseph-Day* (69), James Lynch (97), Shy Tuttle (90), C.J. Ravenell (91)
Defensive edge (5): Dre’Mont Jones* (45), Arden Key* (49), Jihad Ward (53), Jaylen Harrell (92), Ali Gaye (99)
Linebacker (4): Cody Barton* (50), Cedric Gray* (33), James Williams Sr. (52), Dorian Mausi (54)
Cornerback (6): L’Jarius Sneed* (38), Jalyn Armou-Davis* (18), Roger McCreary* (21), Darrell Baker Jr. (39), Marcus Harris (26), Samuel Womack III (35)
Safety (5): Amani Hooker* (37), Xavier Woods* (25), Quandre Diggs (28), Kevin Winston Jr. (23), Kendell Brooks (30)
Specialists (3): Joey Slye (6 | K), Johnny Hekker (3 | P/H), Morgan Cox (46 | LS)
The Titans made a major investment this offseason, selecting quarterback Cam Ward first overall in the NFL Draft. Originally joining a team with an established but reeling starter in Will Levis, Ward was moved up into the QB1 spot after Levis underwent season-ending shoulder surgery.
Since then, the rookie has started all six of Tennessee’s games to, let’s call it uneven success. He has had some flashes but they went hand in hand with the expected growing pains en route to Ward ranking 34th among qualifying quarterbacks with -0.218 expected points added per play. In total, he has completed 111 of 202 pass attempts (55%) for 1,101 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions; he also lost all four of his fumbles.
Surrounding Ward is an offense led by the likes of Calvin Ridley (16-290), Elic Ayomanor (17-196-2) and Chigoziem Okonkwo (23-218) as the young passer’s favorite targets. In addition, the unit features Tony Pollard as its lead back and most productive player overall with 103 touches for 4441 yards and a pair of scores.
All of them are playing behind an offensive line that is better than Ward’s league-leading 25 sacks might suggest. However, there are questions about its development now that veteran coach Bill Callahan left alongside his son.
Over on defense, Jefferey Simmons remains the most noteworthy player. Leading the Titans with 4.5 sacks, 27 total quarterback pressures and a forced fumble, he remains a problem in his seventh year in the NFL. Alongside him, the front seven features plenty of experience in players such as Cody Barton and Dre’Mont Jones, who both arrived this offseason and have had a positive impact so far (Barton, for example, is leading the team with two interceptions).
In the secondary, L’Jarius Sneed is one of the highest-paid cornerbacks in football and the Titans’ No. 1 at the position. He is joined by Roger McCreary and Jalyn Armour-Davis, the latter of whom coming aboard as a waiver claim in August but already being a top three cornerback for the team.
When it comes to special teams, there is a familiar name: Joey Slye was with the Patriots’ kicker last season before being let go in favor of rookie Andy Borregales.
Titans reserves
Practice squad (15): QB Trevor Siemian (15), RB Jordan Mims (24), WR Mason Kinsey (12), WR James Proche (13), WR Xavier Restrepo (87), TE Joel Wilson (83), OT John Ojukwu (—), OL Clay Webb (60), DT Timmy Horne (94), DT Cam Horsley (72), ED Carlos Watkins (96), LB Curtis Jacobs (57), LB Kyzir White (42), CB Sam Webb (41), K Matthew Wright (14)
Practice squad injured reserve (1): RB Blake Watson
Injured reserve (6): QB Will Levis, RB Kalel Mullings, DT T’Vondre Sweat, ED Oluwafemi Oladejo, ED Anfernee Orji, S Mike Brown
Besides the aforementioned Will Levis, the Titans also have some other prominent names on injured reserve. T’Vondre Sweat is a starter-level defensive tackle, while second-round rookie Oluwafemi Oladejo would under normal circumstances factor into the team’s edge rush.
Titans coaching staff
Head coach: Mike McCoy (interim)
Coordinators: Nick Holz (OC), Dennard Wilson (DC), ST John Fassel
As noted above, the Titans’ coaching staff underwent some major changes this week. Besides firing Brian Callahan after his combined record of 4-19 over the last two years, his senior assistant Mike McCoy — himself a former head coach of the Chargers — was elevated to the interim position.
