When Tennessee Titans (2-8) quarterback Will Levis takes the field against the Houston Texans (7-4), it will be his third game back in the lineup since missing three weeks with a shoulder injury. Each week is another opportunity for Levis to prove he's the right man for this job.
Winning his first AFC South divisional game as a pro would be a significant start.
Will Levis must show pre-snap progress for Titans to succeed
Quarterback is arguably the most nuanced position in all of professional sports.
Levis must do more than just show statistical improvement as coach Brian Callahan and the Titans front office continue their evaluation. There must be tangible evidence of Levis putting his offense in the best position to succeed both before and after the snap. Doing so with consistency would be a huge step for a passer preparing to make his 17th career start.
One play from the first quarter of Tennessee's Week 11 23-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings stands out.
On second-and-12, Levis was presented with a "double mug" defensive front by Minnesota. This means that two defenders are lined up on each side of the center to try and dictate how the offensive line will block the front. The Titans were in the pistol formation with the running back behind Levis in the formation.
The Vikings showed pressure on the play and Levis threw deep to receiver Calvin Ridley who was doubled up in coverage, and the pass fell incomplete.
“There's really only two ways to pass protect against that," said Greg Cosell of NFL Films on The Install with Greg Cosell podcast. "The most common way is the center is responsible for one of those players in the A-gap, and the back is responsible for the other player in the A-gap...It's incumbent upon Levis...you have to move the back. That's your responsibility. You have to make it a shotgun formation, not a pistol formation, so the back can be in position to step up and block.”
Whether or not the play would have been successful or not had Levis made the correct adjustment is purely hypothetical.
The larger point is Levis missed an opportunity on that play to give himself the best possible chance for him and the offense to succeed. Margin for error is razor thin in the NFL, and even more so for this struggling Tennessee offense.
If Levis shows improved pre-snap cognition in Houston on Sunday, it will be a critical step in the right direction.
