It doesn’t seem to matter who is playing quarterback for the Tennessee Titans right now — whether it’s Will Levis or, for now, Mason Rudolph.
The same problems — unproductive second halves, turnovers, and penalties — that hurt the Titans in their first five games showed up again in a 34-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, leaving Tennessee (1-5) with its worst start since 2015.
“Tale of two halves. Seems like the tale of our season so far,” said first-year coach Brian Callahan. The Titans got off to a good start with a 10-0 lead but let it slip away, allowing the Bills to score on their last five drives of the second half.
It didn’t matter that Callahan brought in Rudolph while Levis was still dealing with a sore throwing shoulder from an AC joint injury.
Rudolph started strong, completing 12 of 15 passes for 100 yards and a 4-yard touchdown to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, putting the Titans ahead 10-0 early in the second quarter. Then everything changed.
Tennessee crossed midfield only two more times in their final nine possessions, gaining just 72 yards in the second half. Running back Tony Pollard’s performance also dropped. He had 64 yards on 11 carries in the first half but ended with minus-3 yards on five carries in the second half.
If you ignore their 31-12 win over Miami on September 30, the Titans have been outscored 85-21 in the second halves of their five losses, and they have not scored at all in the fourth quarter of those games.
Rudolph finished with 25 completions out of 40 attempts for 215 yards, one interception, and two fumbles (one lost). He was sacked three times and hit 11 times.
The game was pretty much decided during the Titans’ first drive of the second half when Pollard lost 3 yards on a fourth-and-2 from Tennessee’s 42. Just six plays later, Josh Allen threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to newly acquired wide receiver Amari Cooper, putting the Bills ahead 14-10.
“I love the aggressiveness from coach,” Rudolph said about the decision to go for it. “We just have to do a better job of executing and converting and not putting our defense in a bad spot.”
The defense was already struggling, missing starting cornerback L’Jarius Sneed (quadriceps) and after letting safety Jamal Adams go at his own request on Thursday, it eventually got worn out.
Allen threw for a season-high 323 yards — 258 of those in the second half — against a Titans defense that had kept its first five opponents under 200 yards.
“I know we are better than what we are right now. We got to find a way to play at that level for an entire game,” Callahan said. “That’s on me to figure out how to make that happen.”
And this was without Levis, who Callahan said would be week to week.
The coach mentioned that Levis had pain after a 20-17 loss at Indianapolis last weekend, and it continued to bother him during the week. He decided to sit Levis after seeing he was limited in practice on Friday.
“The injury is real,” he added. “He tried to fight through it. I appreciate the toughness and the willingness,” Callahan said. “Just didn’t feel like he could play at the level he needed to play to come in here and win in Buffalo.”
Titans receiver DeAndre Hopkins was rested for most of the second half because he felt sore after catching one pass for 6 yards but losing another 8 yards on a lateral at the end of the first half.
The situation at right tackle also changed again when Jaelyn Duncan left in the first quarter with a hamstring injury. He was replaced by Nicholas Petit-Frere, who had been benched last week for Leroy Watson IV, who was not active for the game against the Bills.
“We’ve got a problem at right tackle,” Callahan said. “We got to find someone that can step up and play for us. Right now, everyone’s gotten their turn, and none of it’s where we need it to be.”
