NASHVILLE – The Titans kicked off the preseason on Saturday night with a 17-13 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Here's a look at six things that stood out in the contest:
1-2 Punch in Running Game
The Titans look different without Derrick Henry in the backfield. On Saturday night, the team took the field without their workhorse of past seasons as the page officially turned. I thought the tandem of Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears looked good vs the 49ers, however, and the Titans hope it's a sign of things to come. Pollard carried the ball four times for 35 yards (8.8 ypc) in the contest, and Spears scored on a nifty four-yard touchdown run in the second quarter as he bounced to the outside and found the end zone. "He's been a great brother to work with," Spears said of Pollard. "We're still working, and we still have a lot of things to clean up. But we're off to a great start."
Levis Debut, and His Big Hit
Titans quarterback Will Levis had a chance to show off his progress in the preseason opener, and he played long enough to make a few plays. Levis completed 4-of-5 passes for 35 yards, including a 22-yard toss to receiver Calvin Ridley. Levis also managed to find the end zone. Before that scoring run: Levis took a big hit from 49ers linebacker Dee Winters on another run, as he attempted to score. My take: Levis needs to pick his battles as a runner, because the last thing the Titans want to see is Levis injured in the preseason. Levis was pleased with the performance of the first-team group, but he acknowledged he got some free advice from others after taking the hit. "I got some people telling me: It's preseason, get down," Levis said. "I was trying to make something happen, but I have to be smarter."
Calvin Ridley's Explosiveness
Ridley didn't play much in his preseason debut, but he was in there long enough to show why the Titans went out and got him in free agency. Ridley caught a short pass from Levis across the middle, and he escaped pursuit to race 22 yards for a first down, putting his speed on display. Ridley has dazzled in training camp practices, and Titans fans got a sneak peek of what's to come on Saturday night. "We were trying to get the ball to Calvin two or three times there," Titans Coach Brian Callahan said. "It was good to just get Calvin going and you see just how explosive he can be with the ball in his hands."
Return Game
The new kickoff is going to take some getting used to. In Week One of the preseason, fans saw the play unfold in front of their own eyes. Titans fans probably liked what they saw in the return game, as Kearis Jackson returned the Titans first kickoff 63 yards, setting up the team's first score of the night. It wasn't the only successful return on the night – rookie Jha'Quan Jackson returned a punt 26 yards, which gave the team good field position once again. "It was exciting," Jha'Quan Jackson said. "We feed off of plays like that, and it fires guys up."
Defense
Yes, it was a shaky start – the 49ers took the opening kickoff and drove 74 yards on 11 plays to take a 7-0 lead to start the contest. After that, however, the 49ers didn't score again until midway through the fourth quarter. While the 49ers starters weren't out there, the Titans were without a good deal of their front-liners as well. Jeffery Simmons, Harold Landry, L'Jarius Sneed, Chidobe Awuzie and Quandre Diggs were among those who didn't suit up on a night when Chance Campbell led the team with eight tackles, and Campbell and Keondre Coburn recorded sacks. The Titans held the 49ers to 4-11 on third down (36.4 %) and 0-2 on fourth down.
Chance Campbell's Big Night
I mentioned Campbell in the previous graph. It was a heck of a performance for the third-year linebacker, who had the eight tackles, a sack, and a game-sealing interception on the final play of the game. "I think any time you can help the team," Campbell said, "it feels good." Coach Callahan bragged on Campbell afterward. "He made plays kind of all night long," Callahan said of Campbell. "He made some hits on the quarterback. I think he sacked the quarterback once, if I'm not mistaken. But just to see him come alive a little bit was great because we're looking for guys to keep coming in that room for depth purposes. Obviously, we lost Garret Wallow. And so, there's opportunities there and he did a nice job taking advantage of it."
