Brian Callahan got his first win as a head coach in the NFL with the Tennessee Titans’ 31-12 win over the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football, and although some accused him of running up the score late in the game, he denied that, saying that there was no way for them to kneel and run the clock all the way down.
“I mean I’m not gonna lie, I thought about it, but the intent was really to just try to run the clock out because we couldn’t take a knee in that situation. The clock wouldn’t have run out at that point,” Brian Callahan said, via Turron Davenport of ESPN. “So we just said, ‘you know we’re just gonna run out goal line plays.’ You know, I called a play from the four that usually doesn’t score from the four. To be honest, it was really a way of taking a knee in a sense and Tony (Pollard) just ended up breaking outside and scoring so I was not trying to actively score necessarily, but we had to run plays and as long as they allow us to run plays we’ll keep trying.”
The Titans started their final offensive drive from the Dolphins’ 10 yard line up 24-12 with 2:27 left in the game. They ran the ball on each play with Tony Pollard, and there were three unsuccessful plays. Then, on fourth down from the four yard line, Callahan kept his offense out there. Tony Pollard got the ball once again and he got into the end zone. That is what drew the accusations of running up the score. Regardless, Callahan is undoubtedly happy to get his first win in the NFL after a few close calls early in the season.
Titans attempt to build off of first win in 2024
Despite the Titans’ first win coming against an undermanned Dolphins team that was playing without Tua Tagovailoa, it was a good win. Tennessee was without starting quarterback Will Levis for the majority of the game due to an injury.
Now, the Titans will have the bye week to recover before hosting the division rival Indianapolis Colts. After the bye week, Will Levis will be the starting quarterback if he is healthy. The biggest thing for him will be avoiding negative plays. That burned them in multiple games, specifically against the Chicago Bears and New York Jets.
For now, Callahan will enjoy his first win as a head coach.
