Miami Dolphins opponents breakdown: Tennessee Titans

The Miami Dolphins will look to bounce back from their back-to-back losses when they face the Tennessee Titans on Monday night at Hard Rock Stadium.

Nashville Post reporter John Glennon joined the All Dolphins Podcast last week. to break down everything related to the Titans and the match.

Here are excerpts from that interview. The full interview can be found below.

How big a surprise is it that the Titans started the season 0-3?

Glennon: I would say starting with the fact that they probably could and should have won their first two games against the Bears and the Jets. They had the lead in both games, especially against the Bears. In the opening game the game seemed to be almost stalled until they made a few catastrophic errors. A silly pick-six return for a touchdown, a punt block for a touchdown, suddenly the Bears are back in the game and continuing to win. Jets, again they were superior to the Jets and again mistakes made the difference. Against Green Bay, I think they got beat for the most part. They had some mistakes again, but Green Bay was certainly the better team. I think there were high hopes for this team. This team spent over $300 million on free agents, brought in a new head coach, a pass-friendly head coach and good wide receivers, better offensive linemen that there are hopes that this team will do better, at least in Nashville. So, yes, there is certainly a shock at the moment.

What went wrong with QB Will Levis, who showed promise as a rookie in 2023 but led the NFL in turnovers for three weeks?

Glennon: When they brought in Brian Callahan, a guy who had worked pretty closely with Joe Burrow over the last five years, Brian Callahan became head coach. A lot of people said, OK, now he has an offensive-minded head coach, a guy who really knows quarterbacks, unlike Mike Vrabel in the past, he should move forward. Now he has the wide receivers. He’s got Calvin Ridley, he’s got DeAndre Hopkins, he’s got Tyler Boyd, he should be better there. They’re drafting a number 7 left tackle (JC Latham), they’re adding a great free agent center Lloyd Cushenberry, so they’re also improving the offensive line and everyone has been waiting for Will Levis to take the next step. Well, the next step is unfortunately a step backwards. It didn’t help that he also had terrible protection. He was sacked 15 times in three games, including eight times Sunday against Green Bay. But even when the pressure wasn’t there, Will Levis made too many bad decisions. He was talking, in fact he used the phrase “rewiring my brain,” not to make decisions like that. But the rewiring has not yet had its full effect.

Is it actually possible that some Tennessee fans are currently missing their former QB Ryan Tannehill?

Glennon: Oh, I’m sure, I’m sure. You know, Ryan Tannehill wasn’t a particularly popular player. By his senior year, the numbers had declined. There were some important interceptions. And certainly Ryan Tannehill wasn’t as good in some playoff games as he was in the regular season. But I think there are a lot of Titans fans who would welcome him back with open arms now, and perhaps even shockingly, that they would be ready to bring Malik Willis back with open arms, and again, he certainly wasn’t Favorite. But after how he looked against the Titans, Tennessee fans might reconsider this move.

Was Tenessee’s win on Monday night in Miami last year the highlight of the 2023 season for Will Levis and the Titans?

Glennon: I think we can probably all remember the side shots of Will Levis just like a pumped up, excited maniac over there, you know, chest-thumping Mike Vrabel five feet back, and and uh… you know already, just a wild man and that I I think when the Titans fans really started to believe that we could have something here, he not only has that spirit, that emotion, that fire, but when you throw for 327 yards and can lead a comeback like that in the fourth quarter, maybe we really have something. Unfortunately for the Titans, Will Levis was the starter. Since then, he has posted a 0-5 record as a starter. Last year it wasn’t so bad, but of course this year we talked about his problems. At this point, one certainly has to be concerned about Will Levis’ confidence. There was some thought that he might start to hesitate, maybe be a little shy about throwing the ball. Maybe a trip south, back to the nice and warm conditions of Miami, football on Monday nights again, maybe that will bring the good things back.

How surprising was the firing of head coach Mike Vrabel after last season to you, considering he was arguably a top-five coach?

Glennon: I agree with you. I was surprised myself. I’m not saying Mike Vrabel was my favorite guy in the world. Not that that matters. He might be a bit difficult to deal with at times. But I thought he did a lot, even though he didn’t have much in the squad. For me, the biggest problem over the last two years, when the Titans went 7-10 and 6-11, was the personnel on the roster and the incredible number of injuries. In fact, the Titans have had to finish either first or second in the number of games lost over the last three years. I think that was a big part of the problem, and I really think when you look at Mike Vrabel’s entire work with the Titans, I think that’s something you have to take into account when you’re the owner, when you’re Amy Adams-Stronk and say, look what he’s done in the first four years or so, give him a chance, maybe with a healthier team, maybe with better personnel, to try to turn things around. So I was surprised. And I think one of the reasons wasn’t necessarily the way he was as a coach, but you hear things from innuendos, banter, back-alley channels and so on that he wasn’t necessarily the best employee, which isn’t hard to say introduce.

How is it that the offensive line is struggling so much after the hiring of Bill Callahan, the son of new head coach Brian Callahan and considered one of the best assistant coaches in the NFL?

Glennon: JC Latham is the left tackle, he was the No. 7 overall pick, he’s probably been the best and most consistent lineman so far, and I guess if you don’t overlook that, you’re saying that’s great for the future that you have a franchise left tackle. On the other hand, he is better than all the experienced guys who are at the game next to him. They have a No. 1 pick at left guard, Peter Skoronski, who was up and down and didn’t have a good day against the Packers. They brought in Lloyd Cushenberry at center, a big contract and a lot is expected from him. He was inconsistent. A second-round pick at right guard, Dillon Radunz, again, up and down, a lot of pressure. And then probably the real weakest link of the group at right tackle, Nicholas Petit-Frere, who was a third-round pick a few years ago and only played three games last year due to an injury and a game-related suspension. There was hope that he would return for his rookie season and solidify his right tackle spot. Not the case so far. In that game against the Jets, he allowed 11 pressures. Another thing I’ve also heard from a few players is that the offensive line is pretty interesting. You mentioned that Bill Callahan certainly has a great reputation as an offensive coach, but I think he differs from all the other offensive coaches in the amount of detail and the amount of different techniques that he teaches and I think that it’s in There’s a little bit of catching up to do in that regard, or that there’s just some catching up to do, maybe that’s part of the problem with the offensive line so far.

Have some fans already checked out after this 0-3 start?

Glennon: Well, there is certainly some of it. I think we all know that the stats for teams that start 0-3 aren’t great. So normally you know how this goes and you see the fans out there already talking about who we’re going to pick at quarterback if we pick No. 1 and so on. And there are certainly many fans who are already demanding that Mason Rudolph be given a chance there. Mason Rudolph is certainly not a guy who has achieved miracles in his career, but he did well in Pittsburgh last year. He won three games in a row and helped the Steelers get into the playoffs. And you know, fans are just very disappointed and, as we said before, “shocked” by Will Levis’ performance. So the disappointment is great because there was once again so much optimism. If you spend $300 million, over $300 million, in free agency, that’s going to generate some stuff. You bring in Calvin Ridley and L’Jarius Sneed and center Lloyd Cushenberry, one by one, and you’ll get people’s hopes up. It’s not necessarily a great recipe. Over the years, switching things up and acquiring lots of free agents hasn’t proven to be a good recipe, but it’s certainly generated a lot of interest.

Is the key to the game for Tennessee is Levis avoiding turnovers?

Glennon: Yes, I think so. At some point, Will Levis has to stop the bleeding from these turnovers. So maybe the Titans will be a little more run-heavy this week. I haven’t necessarily seen how well the Dolphins play against the run, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Titans at least tried. They only ran, I think, 11 times against the Packers, trailed most of the game and started throwing, throwing, throwing. So I think they would try to run the ball a little bit more, you know, and limit the turnover opportunities for Will Levis. I think it will be interesting defensively. We’ve talked about L’Jarius Sneed and certainly he and Tyreek Hill had some interesting moments in the last playoff game. And if I remember correctly, I think L’Jarius Sneed has had pretty good success against Tyreek Hill in the last few matchups. So that will be interesting to watch too.

How confident are you that Tennessee can come to Miami and pick up a second straight win against the Dolphins on Monday night?

Glennon: It’s much better without Tua. I will say that. I did my podcast last night and we always do a prediction at the end, so I guess I’ve published it before so I’ll stick with it, I feel cautiously okay with the Titans in large part because of the Tua situation. I don’t think it will be a real shootout. No. I think it will be around 17-9, I think, which is what I predicted for the Titans to win. I think their defense looked pretty good up until the Green Bay game when they were immediately overrun, but again, I don’t necessarily think that’s the strength of a strong Dolphins running game, so maybe that’s okay in this situation . And again, L’Jarius Sneed seems to be having pretty good success with Tyreek Hill, etc. So if Will Levis, maybe when we set the over-under ratio, for example, 2.5 (turnovers) for Will Levis and he goes down this week, then maybe the Titans have a chance. If it goes over that, if it’s three or more, it’s probably a Dolphins W.