It is no secret that coach Brian Callahan and the Tennessee Titans do not have much to lean on in their quarterback room if something were to happen to No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward. One sequence, in particular, caused Tennessee fans great frustration when watching the reserves get reps in a 29-7 preseason loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday.
It is a great example of why context is necessary when judging individual football plays.
Brandon Allen makes a totally confusing mistake on 4th-and-2
Veterans Brandon Allen and Tim Boyle are the current reserves behind Ward in the Titans quarterback room.
Ward played two series for a total of 14 plays in Tampa that resulted in Tennessee's only points of the night. Allen came in after Ward's night was done, and completed six of his 12 passing attempts for 62 yards with an interception on a tipped pass. Beyond the uninspiring nature of Allen's performance, his most confusing play of the night came on his most effective drive of the night.
Allen marched the Titans offense down to the Bucs 2-yard line, found himself with a 4th-and-Goal from the 2, and threw the ball out of bounds for a turnover on downs.
"As far as Brandon (Allen) on the fourth down, to me I take a little bit of responsibility for that fourth down because Brandon's headset was going in and out and I called a play that probably wasn't the best for what they ended up playing and that happens sometimes," Callahan said on Sunday. "But I just didn't feel— I didn't love the call when I called it, especially as we we're trying to rush it to get it in, because if you look, Brandon had to run over to the sideline to get the call from me. So, in hindsight, I would have probably liked that call back. But then he starts moving around and there wasn't anybody really open and tried to give a guy a chance to go up and get the ball high and I think the throw got away from him a little bit. But I'll take the responsibility for that. I didn't like that play call in the moment."
That sequence makes way more sense than a sixth-year NFL veteran throwing a ball out of bounds on a 4th-and-2 play.
