NASHVILLE – And, we're on to Week 12.
The Titans head to Houston on Saturday for Sunday's game against the Texans.
Five of the team's final seven games will be against opponents from the AFC South.
Can the Titans finish the year on a positive note?
We'll find out in time.
For now, let's jump into another Titans mailbag…
Here's the link to submit questions: CLICK HERE.
Bob Galasso from Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Question: Hello Jim. First let me say "How about those Dodgers - World Champions!" I know you're also a Dodgers fan so I couldn't resist. Lol ... Okay so my question is one that I know a lot of Titans Fans have been asking but as we are nearing the last quarter of the regular season I am very curious as what your take is on this question.
How do you feel Will Levis is progressing? I am a big supporter of him and would like to see him be able to show enough promise to work through his struggles and keep the starting QB role. There have been a lot of great quarterbacks in the NFL that have struggled early on in there careers but ended up going on to have great careers... plus the offensive line ( right side at least) has had problems giving Will the opportunity to throw... Yes he tends to hold on to the ball longer then he should but its awful hard for any QB to throw if you're lying on your back. Lol
Levis has thrown for 1,169 yards with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions, with a passer rating of 80.5. thus far or close to those numbers... but do you think the scale is tipping in his favor or will we be drafting another QB in the 2025 draft? By the way... Wishing you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving holiday. You do an awesome job!!
Jim: Hey Bob. Go Dodgers! I'm still fired up about that!
I'll say this about Will Levis: He's been much better since returning from the right shoulder injury. But with seven games left, there's still a lot to be determined. Reasons to be encouraged (for fans who want him to succeed): Since returning to the lineup in Week 10, Levis is averaging 235.0 yards per game, with a 103.2 rating, a 3-to-1 Pass TD-to-INT ratio and an average of 8.7 yards per attempt. In his first five starts, Levis threw for 139.8 yards per game with a 70.7 rating, a 5-to-7 Pass TD-to-INT ratio, with a 5.6-yard average per attempt. Levis had a season-high 295 passing yards last week. So, that's solid improvement. But, a bad game on Sunday in Houston, and I know some fans will celebrate his failure. That's just where we are right now with this season unfortunately, and it's what he's dealt with since he walked in the door. I want to see a longer stretch of success from him. The team needs to see it, too. Let's see how this season plays out and we'll have a better idea on where things go from here at the QB position.
Randy Porter from Hendersonville, Tennessee
Question: Hi Jim! It's all been said by frustrated fans this season. We all agree the team has to play better and we have some glaring issues to fix. Tony Pollard has been a bright spot and a good grab. Still, fans hoped for a glimpse of a more dynamic passing game to be used, so we could see what Levis can really do. However, at this point I hope everyone realizes that the atrocious blocking by the O-line is preventing Callahan and Levis from trying much. Will is taking a beating from defenses and beating himself up even worse. Well, in spite of that, I've actually seen glimpses of growth from him the last two games. No, they weren't perfect, but they were certainly better. Again, in spite of no protection. So, I think we need to focus on fixing the line and give Will a little encouragement going forward, until he has a fair chance in the pocket. Myself included. As for the penalties Sunday, we all know there were bad calls. Those calls likely had a 14 point affect on a game that we lost by 10. But, we'll never know for sure. What I do know is we all saw the effort Levis put on the field and we appreciate it. He needs to be proud of his effort, even when we lose from factors out of his control. He can't fix everything himself. Now back to officiating. Let me be clear, I try to never blame a loss on penalties, but I know this - It's impossible to beat eleven players and seven officials in ANY game. Penalties need to be less subjective and reviewable by N.Y. or at least challengeable for review. As it stands now, officials can determine the outcome of a game, with no avenue for challenge, review and overturn. Then, no one is supposed to even talk about it. My question Jim is this - Can you explain the rules and why players, coaches, team radio staff (and you) are gagged by the league for simply voicing their opinion on officiating and bad calls ? It seems that the First Amendment to the Constitution ceases to exist in the league for some. Well, it doesn't cease for us, the fans. So we have to be the voice that points out and questions bad officiating at times. As for now at least, we can't be fined. So please explain the rules in place. I think it would benefit us all right now.
Thanks as always Jim !
Jim: Hey Randy. The lack of pass protection has certainly impacted the play-calling, and the play of Levis. I agree he's looked better in recent weeks, and now he has to keep it going. If Levis finishes strong, it's going to lead to some interesting conversations in the offseason, something I touched on with Bob. As for NFL guidelines as it relates to officiating, coaches are certainly subject to fines from the NFL for being too critical of officiating, and I know they often spread the word to players to limit their comments on officiating. No one has ever said anything to me about what I can, or what I can't, say. It's kind of like everything else I do with my work for the team's website. I know there's a line I can't cross, and I try and toe it the best I can.
David Clark from Rochester Hills, Michigan
Question: Hey Jim. Sorry we missed you last Sunday. Another tough loss and some real questionable calls against the Titans. We can't catch a break and seem to self destruct at some real critical moments. I've never seen so many illegal formation and false starts calls.
Do you feel the these calls are justified or are we just really undisciplined? We currently rank 2nd in the league with 82 penalties. It's hard enough to win while you're playing bad football but it's even harder when you self destruct.
It's been a tough year and we can only look forward to the future and hope things improve. I know a lot of the fan base have already given up on this new regime which is crazy. I believe in coach Callahan and feel he and Ran have what it takes to turn things around. And I know Amy wants to win more than anything.
I'll just continue to support this franchise and know how gratifying it will be when we get back to our winning ways. For now, Titan up and keep the faith.
And thanks for all you do, Jim and congratulations on your HOF induction.
Jim: Hey David. Really sorry I missed you and Melissa. Glad you had a big time, despite the outcome.
Officiating has been topic No.1 in here this week. I'll go in on one more, and then I'm moving on.
I did think some of the calls on Sunday were horrendous, from the Mike Brown unnecessary roughness penalty to the defensive flags on Jarvis Brownlee Jr., who was playing good, physical defense, in my opinion. I'm not going to go homer on you in here and say the refs were out to get the Titans with the alignment calls. Yeah, it was odd to see three of them, especially after the Titans didn't have one all season, but they were called, and by the letter of the law, they were penalties. After one, and certainly two, Isaiah Prince should've scooted up to be sure he wouldn't' get called again. And, yes, the Titans have been penalized too often this season, second-most in the NFL, in fact, with 82. The team needs to clean things up. Appreciate the email, and for the kind words. Take care.
Ashwin Gajjala from Frisco, Texas
Question: Hey Jim, How have you been so far? You have remembered that I'm a big Tennessee Titans fan living in Texas, and my parents agreed for me to come to the Houston Texans Game where they Face the Titans at NRG Stadium, and how do I meet the team, especially seeing Will Levis? Also I am sitting in the Titans area which is seat 126F. Also, Go Titans
Jim: Hey Ashwin. Your best bet is to get to the game early, when the gates open two hours before kickoff, and head to the Titans tunnel where players come and go during pregame. Some regularly stop to sign autographs, and/or take pictures. Others will be locked in, listening to music, and they won't hear you, so they won't stop. It's your best chance to get lucky.
Darren Linton from Little Rock, Arkansas
Question: Hey Jim, back to opposing fans in the lower bowl. The Vikings fans took over last weekend and when I was in town for the Green Bay game, I knew the night before on Broadway we were in trouble… Cheeseheads everywhere on the Saturday night. The Titans should revisit their policy of not selling season tickets to fans who live a certain radius outside of Nashville. Clearly that ain't the answer. We want hardcore fans from anywhere! I heard other NFL franchises punt season ticket holders Ryan Stonehouse style if they continually sell their tickets on the secondary market. Can or will Miss Amy look at this as a policy?
Jim: It's certainly a fair question after what we saw on Sunday.
Jonahtan Delamar from Memphis, Tennessee
Question: Hi Jim! This is a response and question. In your last article about other team's fans over running our stadium. I've had season tickets for 21 years, I come to damn near every game, not missed any this year. I have multiple sets of PSL's. I sell tickets to every game because I only got one butt and 5 extra seats. My sons won't come anymore because they say "they're just going to lose", so they go play golf. So, I go by myself and sell my other tickets. I'm not ashamed, Titans are making money off me with their crappy product, I'll make money off them. We need a better product!!! So locals might have some interest. If I waited for other Titans fans to buy them, I'd be waiting a long damn time.
Jim: I get the reasons why fans sell their tickets to fans of the opposing teams. I also understand why Titans fans who go every week get upset when they have fans of other teams sitting next to them on a regular basis. And, I understand why Titans players wonder where the support is when a home game feels like an away game. I thought the head coach gave a great answer when asked about it this week. Here's what he said: "My experience with those things is that when you play well and you win games, people come. For us to have our Titans fans at the stadium and supporting us, you have to give them something worth supporting. And right now we have to do a better job of that, we've got to win more games to see people support. I've played in this stadium before and it's been a pretty raucous environment. It's been a hard place to play and we've got to do our part to make sure that our fans want to come. And that's all part of it. That's how it is for every team in the league. You put a product out there that people want to watch, they tend to come watch it. Our record and what we've done so far probably isn't what people expected or wanted, nor is it what we were hoping for. And so those are usually what happens in those types of games against fan bases that travel well. And that's a good fan base, Minnesota is a fun place to—they got a good team, they're excited about them and this is a fun city to come visit. And so that's all part of it. It's a great city. It's a great place. I know when I was in Cincinnati, the Bengals fans all look forward to coming down here, too. It's just part of what makes Nashville a great place. And we just got to keep putting our team together and put ourselves in position to win games and those things will work themselves out."
John Baker from Dickson, Tennessee
Question: Hey Jim. I was wondering if we could possibly get an uncensored version of Brian Callahan's mic'd up game?
Jim: &%@! no! 😊
Rob Haye from Ontario, Canada
Question: Hey Jim, so been reading the weekly Tues/Sat columns for years now, and chimed in a few times along the way.
If you go back and look at some of the past coaches / qb's and win percentage, surprising Vrabel and Tannehill rank among the top for Oilers / Titans alumni.
In the 2020-21-22 early season's the single reason for success in my opinion is that we had one of the best offensive lines in the league, with Lewan and Conklin on the ends.
With a top 5 O line, you can see what an offense can produce with the weapons we had. We put up 30 points almost weekly and we didn't need to focus on defense as they were in the bottom half of the league year in and year out, but the offense carried them.
However after we got rid of Lewan and Conklin left for FA, and then we lose Brown, and became a run first offense with a poor O line that couldn't block or protect the QB for their life, everything has continued to decline, and now we can't score to save our lives, and we keep telling ourselves we have a #1 defense. Which is based purely on stats that don't mean anything, because the only stat that gets you to the playoff's is win/loss record, and our defense can't stop anyone really in the red zone either.
Fast forward to this 2024 season, and our single biggest flaw is the O line, just like it was last 2 years, and we wonder why Vrabel couldn't win, and why Callahan can't win.
Carthon, may have made a few good moves along the way, but every successful team, builds from the O line back and then builds the pieces around them.
We built it backwards, and put all the money in positions that can't produce results because they don't have an O line, just look at our record, any QB can't throw a ball when he doesn't have time, runs for his life, or is constantly on his back after being sacked time after time.
Levis probably won't win the starting job next year because of the O line play this year. You can't teach a rookie QB how to be a NFL QB with this type of O line roster in front of him, and the next QB will probably produce same results...such a shame.
Jim: Thanks for reading, Rob, and for taking the time to write in. And, I agree with a lot of this. It's hard for me to understand myself how the team thought it was good at right tackle to start the season. It greatly overestimated what it had at the position, or it underestimated what a problem it would be. And, it's been a problem for a few years now, like you said.
Mark Nevar from Port Colborne, Ontario
Question: Hi Jim. Lifelong Oiler/ Fan My three boys and I suffered through attending the Bills game. Lets face it ... its all about next season at this point. Unfortunately for Will, with Cush gone and the right side of the o-line worse than it was at the beginning of the season, it's going to be hard to get a fair read on him for the remainder of the season.. That being said I can't imagine any other team keeping their special teams coach after such a dismal performance against punts and kickoffs. As a fan it makes me question management!!!. Titan up and happy holidays
Jim: Back-to-back from Ontario. Happy holidays, Mark.
David Kennedy from Hytop, Alabama
Question: Instead of "Ask Jim", let's call this "Misery loves Company"? Then we could all feel the sorrow for the Titans along with the Giants, Raiders and Browns! We can cry in our 2-8 beer together- but then wait for next year!
Jim: Hey David. I think I'll just keep it "Ask Jim."
Have a great weekend everyone!
