The Tennessee Titans fall 0-3 on the season after suffering an incredibly ugly 41-20 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Things have gone from bad to worse, as the fanbase is calling for Brian Callahan's job after the second-year head coach had another brain fart on Sunday.
There was one sequence that had fans pulling their hair out right before halftime. The Titans had the ball in the final two minutes of the second quarter with all three timeouts. Typically, teams use that as an opportunity to drive the field and put points on the board. Instead, the 41-year-old head coach called five run plays that eventually led to a fourth-and-one situation.
The Colts called a timeout at that moment to stop the clock at 42 seconds. Brian Callahan followed that up with a timeout call of his own. However, despite the extra time provided, the Titans were called for a delay of game penalty. After being pushed back an additional five yards, Tennessee's field goal attempt got tipped by Indy, giving them great field position to earn three more points before halftime.
During the postgame presser, Callahan was asked point-blank what led to the debacle. Brian Callahan explained what happened on the sideline, claiming that he and the Titans were just simply trying to figure out if they should go for it on fourth and one or kick the field goal, according to Jim Wyatt of TennesseeTitans.com. The indecisiveness is ultimately what led to the penalty.
“Callahan said the Titans were going back and forth trying to decide whether to go for it or kick a FG at the end of the half when the team got the delay of game.”
The Titans' head coach went on to claim that kicker Joey Slye has hit field goals from well beyond 50 yards before. Brian Callahan said the idea was to score three points and cut the Colts' lead to a one-possession game before halftime, per John Glennon of The Nashville Post. Callahan followed that statement up by saying that it wasn't his intention for the team to be penalized for a delay of game call.
“Titans‘ Callahan: Says re end of first-half series, Slye has made FGs from that range and it would have cut it to one-score game. Had no intention, obviously, of taking a delay.”
The Titans move on to Week 4, where they will take on the Houston Texans. Tennessee seemingly needs a win to avoid falling to 0-4. However, the clock might already be ticking for Brian Callahan.
