Titan Up/Titan Down: Winners & Losers From Titans Week 6 Loss to Ravens
The Tennessee Titans' hopes for the 2023 season are on life support after a Week 6 loss to the Baltimore Ravens dropped them to 2-4 on the year. It was a mostly ugly performance that led to the defeat. While many played poorly and had a bad day, there were also some winners in the sadness.
On the Locked On Titans podcast, I do a segment every week after the game called "Titan Up, Titan Down" to discuss the proverbial winners and losers from each game. I am bringing that here to AllTitans.com where I'll pick my top three of each. Let's jump in.
Titan Up
Will Levis
The rookie quarterback has yet to take a snap in a regular season game or even be on the active gameday roster. After the struggles of Malik Willis in his rookie year and the Titans trading up to draft Levis, it seemed the writing was on the wall of who the future quarterback of this team was.
However, Willis has beat out Levis at every point of this season so far, from the summer camps to training camp to preseason to the backup job in the regular season. The problem is, when Willis hit the field after Tannehill in Week 6, his worst issue continued to pop up. Willis simply doesn't get rid of the ball quick enough.
With Tannehill's injury putting his status up in the air and Willis having some similar struggles, Sunday was a win for Levis and his chances of getting an opportunity sooner than later.
Nicholas Petit-Frere
After being suspended for six games in the offseason for gambling on team property, the second-year player out of Ohio State lost his starting job at right tackle. Veteran Chris Hubbard took the spot and has played well enough to not give it back.
Petit-Frere needed a chance to get back in the lineup and show this team he is a part of the future offensive line. Petit-Frere got that shot and the Titans looked improved in the second half when he came in. It was far from perfect, but just getting the shot now and probably going forward is huge for Petit-Frere.
The "Tank" Crowd
There is a large contingent of Titans faithful that never thought this season would amount to a real chance at a playoff run. There are some who, since the end of last season, have clamored for the team to accept that it is not a playoff contender and look towards the future.
That crowd "won" when the Titans lost on Sunday. Tannehill is now hurt, so the young quarterbacks will likely play. Dropping to 2-4 may also make the Titans sellers at the trade deadline with veterans like Derrick Henry, DeAndre Hopkins and Denico Autry potentially being looked at as trade targets for more competitive teams.
If you wanted the Titans to play the young quarterbacks and trade players for more draft picks with an eye towards the future, Sunday was a win for you.
Titan Down
Ryan Tannehill
Tannehill injured his ankle during the second half of Sunday's game. The Titans' starting quarterback got tangled up under a Ravens' defender as he was being hit. Tannehill left the game after trying to tough it out and eventually left on a cart and was seen in the locker room on crutches afterwards.
Tannehill has played very well for the Titans since he became the starter in 2019, but he is on the last year of his contract, is regressing as a player and simply isn't the quarterback for this team in this state. Sunday's loss could very well end up being his last start as a Titan.
Andre Dillard
Talking about Petit-Frere as a winner earlier covers part of the Dillard story here. Dillard was a former first rounder from the Philadelphia Eagles who couldn't break through to be a starter on a talented Eagles offensive line.
The Titans gave him a deal in the offseason to see if it was because Dillard wasn't good enough or Philly's unit was really that good. The answer appears to be both. The Eagles never needed to start Dillard because they were so good upfront, but Dillard isn't an NFL starter either.
This will likely be the last time Dillard is expected to be a starter heading into an NFL season and Petit-Frere will likely play over him going forward.
Mike Vrabel
Vrabel is a "Titan Down" for multiple reasons. First, his travel plans. Vrabel took the Titans over to London later in the week despite multiple coaches doing or saying they wish they would have done the opposite. The Titans were sluggish in the first half and got down too big.
More damning though, Vrabel admitted after the game he wasn't sure if the Titans issues were correctable and his message is seeming to lose power in the locker room. This team is not good enough to compete the way Vrabel thought it could and he seems to be the most shocked of anyone by that fact.
The Titans tried to thread the needle of being competitive, while rebuilding this offseason. Taking lotto ticket free agents deals on veterans instead of truly embracing the situation and going young. Vrabel tried to walk down two paths with this offseason and only walked down the wrong one.
Related stories on Titans-Ravens
- WEEK 6 SNAP COUNTS: The Tennessee Titans dropped to 2-4 to in a loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 6, but the snap counts got interesting as we got our real first look at Malik Willis in 2023. CLICK HERE
- TITANS LOSE TO RAVENS: The Tennessee Titans may have lost more than a game on Sunday in London. They fell to the Baltimore Ravens 24-16, again stubbing their toe often in the red zone, but they also lost starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill to an injury in the second half. CLICK HERE
- DRIVE CHART: The Tennessee Titans went over to London, England for Week 6 and will come back at 2-4 after a loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The offense didn't get the job done and here is a recap of every offensive drive of the day. CLICK HERE
- WATCH DERRICK HENRY SCORE: The Tennessee Titans got a turnover from the defense and turned it into a score after Derrick Henry broke off a 15-yard touchdown run. CLICK HERE
- WATCH DERRICK HENRY BREAK THE BIG ONE: The Tennessee Titans are into the second half of their Week 6 game with the Baltimore Ravens and the Titans finally made a big play in the third quarter when Derrick Henry broke off a 64-yard scamper. CLICK HERE
- WATCH TITANS DEFENSE GET HUGE STOP: The Tennessee Titans are into the second quarter of their Week 6 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens and the red zone defense has been fantastic early on, holding the Ravens to three field goals on three scoring opportunities. CLICK HERE
- WATCH TITANS LET ODELL BECKHAM JR. LOOSE: The Tennessee Titans have kicked off their Week 6 game in London, England against the Baltimore Ravens and we already saw a big play in the first quarter when the Titans defense surrendered a 32-yard catch to Odell Beckham Jr. CLICK HERE
