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So much for Malik Willis, the ‘bust’

Vaseline September 22, 2024

The Tennessee Titans lost their third straight game to open the Brian Callahan era and the 2024 NFL season on Sunday, falling 30-14 at home to the Green Bay Packers. It was an ugly affair at times, marred by defensive regression, untimely penalties and the one debilitating turnover that has occurred in every Titans game to date. But there were also encouraging moments as some of the Titans’ youngest and most experienced players kept things ticking as the Titans fought back late in the game.

Here are The Tennessean’s winners and losers from Sunday’s game.

Loser: Nicholas Petit-Frere… again

The Titans right tackle had one of the worst games imaginable in the Week 2 loss to the New York Jets. He responded in Week 3 by getting completely twisted and turned by Packers defensive end Kingsley Enagbare with the Titans driving and in plus territory, allowing Enagbare to rip the ball out of Levis’ hands for a sack-fumble. The Titans had just scored a touchdown and forced a three-and-out before getting back into scoring position, when Petit-Frere’s foul ended that rally, and effectively any chance of a Titans comeback. Unsurprisingly, Petit-Frere was benched in favor of Jaelyn Duncan for the next possession.

Winner: DeAndre Hopkins

After two weeks of slowly returning to the offense, Hopkins looked like his old self again on Sunday. He forced himself to enter the end zone from the 2-yard line with a physical catch against tight coverage, arm-barring his way to a score. Hopkins was Levis’ favorite target and often his safety blanket as a rookie. Having the perennial 1,000-yard target back as a fixture on offense is a huge advantage going forward.

Loser: The Titans secondary

Chidobe Awuzie suffering a groin injury is unfortunate. But before and after the injury, former Titans quarterback Malik Willis was tearing his old team apart through the air — a tough idea to imagine considering how rarely that even happened during Titans practices. Willis connected with receivers for gains of 37, 30, 30 and 21, including a beautiful sideline ball over cornerback Roger McCreary on third down to set up the Packers’ first score and a pair of long third-down conversions before halftime to put three more on the board.

Loser: Titans of the Past Attacks

It’s impossible to watch Willis play a competent, composed, productive game without wondering why that never happened when he was in a Titans uniform. A few of his trademark moments of indecision popped up here and there, but mostly he looked like a quarterback confidently playing in a system that suited his talents. It’s not that Willis never played in offenses with good running backs in Tennessee. The fact that he fit into a new system after just a month, while the Titans couldn’t figure out what to do with him in two years, isn’t necessarily an indictment of previous regimes, but it is food for thought about the importance of fit in football.

Winner: The run defense

This week, the idea of holding Josh Jacobs to under 50 yards had been cause for celebration. Sure, Willis’ scrambles and a couple of jet sweeps made the Packers’ run game look pretty strong. But this was another strong performance up the middle from Jeffery Simmons and T’Vondre Sweat, as well as linebackers Ernest Jones IV and Kenneth Murray Jr., who filled holes.

Loser: The Run Attack

Tyjae Spears and Tony Pollard couldn’t get anything going Sunday. The Titans’ longest rush by a running back was 6 yards, and the duo totaled just 21 yards. That’s a brutal performance in a game where a little more balance on offense could have gone a long way.

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at [email protected]Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @nicksuss.