Last season, the New England Patriots leapt to Super Bowl LX with a ton of cap space, a fourth-ranked schedule, a new defensive-minded head coach and a year-two in Drake Maye.
If you’re looking for teams with similar ingredients to prepare the same recipe this season, it won’t take long to reach the Tennessee Titans.
The Titans hired Robert Saleh last offseason, started the spring with a league-high $94.8 million in cap space, and finished the year with a 3-14 record in the AFC South for a fourth-place program. Add in the second year of quarterback Cam Ward this season, and you have the ingredients to match what the Patriots had a year ago.
Tennessee spent the offseason adding new faces on both sides of the ball. However, the previous comebacks were not what Titans fans had hoped for as Tennessee fell by a final score of 23-10 to another 2025 fourth seed team, the New York Jets. And with the Titans’ lone touchdown in the fourth quarter, the game wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.
So where are we with Ward after Week 1?
It was a great start for Ward and the Titans offense against the Jets. The second-year passer completed just 19 of 32 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown, and while he avoided throwing an interception, some advanced metrics weren’t too kind.
For example, Ward averaged 4.2 adjusted net yards per attempt. He placed on the 28th place All 32 in week 1. He It was slightly better in QBR.He ranks 26th among the most efficient players in the league with 34.3 wins.
Ward was in the middle of the pack when it comes to quarterback effectiveness Designed by RBSDMWhich examines completion percentage and points per game above expectations:
(Ward is the red dot in the middle near Aaron Rodgers and Kirk’s relatives).
Turning to what we saw on the field, there are some silver linings as well as some dark clouds if you’re a Titans fan.
We can start with some silver linings to rookie wide receiver Carnell Tate’s first-quarter performance:
The Titans run a two-step concept to the left, with Tate on the deep side and Wan’Dale Robinson to the flat. The Jets counter with Cover 6, running Cover 4 to the left of the offense and Cover 2 to the right.
Tate opens up and the throw from Ward is on time and in rhythm. This is a great quarterback from the second year passer.
So was his touchdown pass to Elic Iomanor in the fourth quarter.
Ward had read the man’s cover correctly and set off with great enthusiasm down the road to the Iomanor. The placement on this throw works just as well, Ward keeps it as low as possible so the receiver can catch and embarrass him and avoid any potential damage. If he leads the field and/or keeps it up, Andre Cisco has a chance to make a play on the ball or body.
Part of the problem with Ward vs. Tennessee on Sunday was pressure, both when the pressure was blocked in front of him and when Ward contributed to the pressure he faced in the pocket. Chart data from Pro Football Focus showed Ward had 41% of his snaps Sunday, 11th in the NFL.
He completed 5 of 10 passes for 33 yards on those plays and posted a 4.0 average depth of target.
Ward has been able to turn situations to his advantage at times under pressure. In this 3rd-and-3 situation, Ward faces a free runner on the right side from the start of the game. He manages to avoid a sack and cheats for the first time:
On this play from the third quarter, he does a good job of avoiding pressure while keeping his eyes downfield and finds Robinson to move the sticks for a 9-yard gain.
But the pressure in the pocket will eventually speed up their progress in the pocket, causing significant damage to the quarterback. Take this game:
This is the same two-level concept on the left, with a deep exit path to the flat and above. As Ward did earlier in the game — and there’s a short window in which to move the chains in this 3rd-and-8 situation.
But feeling the pressure, he jams the pocket to the right and is eventually forced out of bounds for a 1-yard loss.
As was the general theme of the silver linings, there was this moment from late in the first half where he managed the pocket well… but missed the throw.
All told, the picture Ward painted against the Jets on Sunday was a picture of a young quarterback with parts like pocket movement and anticipation, but not a complete picture. You can describe it as a “floor” for Ward, but now it’s a matter of reaching his potential ceiling.
Which is How the new head coach described it He:
You look at Cam, he’s had seven different coordinators in the last seven years, you know, he’s trying to build a foundation and he’s trying to build a foundation for him. We’re trying to give it some stability and we’re trying to give it week-to-week repeats without having to reset. Therefore, growth occurs throughout the year. His development will be next year and the year after. This young man has what it takes to be an NFL quarterback on the floor again, but he has all the tools, the mental makeup to get where he needs to go.
All of that is true. Brian Daboll is the seventh offensive coordinator Ward has worked with in the last seven years, starting in college. Since he just started the first game of his second season in the NFL, he remains a young quarterback who needs some stability around him.
Getting to that ceiling, however, is the next big step.
However, for those Titans fans still looking for more silver linings, consider this.
If they want to keep up with the 2025 Patriots, they also lost their first game.
For Geno Smith and the Las Vegas Raiders.
