Nashville – In the team’s first rehearsal for the 2024 season, the Titans provided several reasons for optimism.
In the same match, the Titans also showed that they have a lot of room for improvement.
Welcome to the preseason, which the Titans kicked off with a 17-13 win over the 49ers on Saturday night, in the debut of new coach Brian Callahan.
“I thought the first-string guys did really well offensively, scoring on two tries, which started off strong with the comeback,” Callahan said. “Defensively, we started off slow on the first try, but we recovered and did our best after that.”
“I thought we played fairly cleanly most of the time, and I thought we played effective football offensively. So it was a good start for us.”
As Callahan noted, the Titans’ defense had a shaky start, allowing the 49ers to drive the field on their opening possession to take a 7-0 lead thanks to a four-yard touchdown run by Jordan Mason.
But the Titans responded quickly, scoring two touchdowns led by quarterback Will Levis to take a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter.
After Levis scored from one yard out, linebacker Tejay Spears rushed for a four-yard touchdown.
Levis and the offense played two series, and Levis completed 4-of-5 passes for 35 yards in his game after replacing quarterback Mason Rudolph early in the second quarter. Levis posted a passer rating of 85.3.
The Titans led 14-7 at halftime, and Levi was happy with the performance and the win.
“With our group out there, I felt like we did a good job of having everyone at their best,” Levis said. “We just have to keep getting better at that.”
Rudolph played in the third quarter before being replaced by Malik Willis. Rudolph completed 10 of 17 passes for 126 yards and had a passing percentage of 82.0 on the game, and led an offense that stalled near the 49ers’ goal line in the second quarter.
Willis led a seven-play, 49-yard drive, capped off with a 34-yard field goal by kicker Brayden Narveson to make it 17-7 with 12:09 left. Willis finished the game 5-of-7 for 38 yards, with a passer rating of 84.2.
The 49ers cut the deficit to 17-13 with 8:26 left on a six-yard touchdown run by quarterback Joshua Dobbs.
Tennessee’s first-team defense was without Jeffrey Simmons, Harold Landry, Legarius Snead, Chidobe Awuzie and Quandre Diggs, among others, Saturday night.
The team’s defense, which played against 49ers quarterback Brandon Allen in the first half, settled down after a rough start and made some plays with the first and second-string players on the field in the first 30 minutes of the game, before the 49ers were able to score again in the fourth quarter.
Titans defensive lineman Condre Coburn knocked Dobbs down for a 15-yard loss in the final minutes of the game, then linebacker Chance Campbell intercepted a Dobbs pass on the final play of the game to preserve the win.
The Titans return to action Saturday at Nissan Stadium for their second preseason game against the Seahawks.
“We have to get used to winning,” Levis said. “Winning is fun, and there’s a certain responsibility that comes with it. So hopefully we can do our best in all these games and feel the winning vibes, and keep going.”
