On Saturday, the Tennessee Titans hosted the San Francisco 49ers in their first preseason game of 2024. The Titans came out on top and did pretty well overall, but it wasn’t all sunshine and roses. CBS Sports released its version of the good, bad and ugly sides of each NFL team after the first preseason games this weekend.
The good: The Titans’ strong one-two punch of Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears. Pollard averaged a whopping 8.8 yards per carry and 35 rushing yards on four carries, showing much of the explosion from his 2022 Cowboys Pro Bowl season before the gruesome leg injury in the postseason against those same 49ers. Spears contributed three carries for two yards, including a touchdown near the goal line. Pollard was also a factor in the passing game with two catches for 11 yards. Quarterback Will Levis will once again be blessed with strong running back play in his second year in the NFL. It’s worth noting that the Titans scored touchdowns on both of Levis’ drives in the game.
The bad and the ugly: There isn’t much to criticize, as the Titans didn’t allow a passing touchdown and intercepted quarterback Joshua Dobbs. Tennessee didn’t allow San Francisco to score in the second and third quarters and didn’t let the 49ers get into rhythm all day.
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While the Titans’ running game looked solid on Saturday, we didn’t see much of the aerial game. There were 15 different catchers on Saturday and the longest pass (36 yards) was to a running back (Julius Chestnut). However, it is preseason and some of that is to be expected as the Titans try to figure out who makes their final 53-man roster.
On defense, the Titans didn’t allow a single passing touchdown and managed to intercept the ball at the end of the game. There were two sacks, but the Titans allowed over five yards per play. Their saving grace was the 49ers’ eight penalties for 48 yards, so there is still room for improvement there.
The preseason will never show us what we will see during the regular season because teams are still trying to determine their players and because many star players do not play in the preseason to avoid injuries, the teams we see during this time are not the same as the teams we see during the season.
Still, we can learn something about the coaching staff and their decision-making, how they commentate on a game, and how they make adjustments. Fortunately for the Titans, they performed well this weekend and gave fans reason to be hopeful.
The Titans host the Seattle Seahawks in their second preseason game on Saturday.
