After a stagnant offensive showing and a defensive collapse against Geno Smith, Tennessee shifts focus to Philadelphia, seeking to fix multi-phase failures before a daunting Week 2 clash.
Sunday's loss to the New York Jets was embarrassing for a number of reasons.
The Tennessee Titans lost 23-10 to the Jets in what was their final home opener at the current stadium.
It's not like the Jets were some super team either. This was a team led by Geno Smith at quarterback. Yet he managed to avoid getting sacked all day. There was even one play where he ducked under Jeffery Simmons' tackle and escaped the pocket.
Smith actually threw for more passing yards than the Titans had in total offensive yardage. He finished with 215 passing yards, and the Titans had 195 yards of total offense.
This was also supposed to be when the Titans would add Chris Johnson to the franchise's Ring of Honor. The event was supposed to be held at halftime but was canceled because his family was unable to travel to Nashville.
Nothing went right for the Titans, whether it was offense, defense, or special teams. The game started with a kickoff that went out of bounds, and it got worse from there.
The Titans trailed the Jets 10-3 at halftime, but the game didn't feel that close. The Jets scored another touchdown followed by two field goals.
Tennessee then scored its first touchdown of the game in the final three minutes. Unfortunately, it didn't matter at that point.
Now, the Titans have to shift focus quickly to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2. The Eagles are coming off a close 24-22 win over the Washington Commanders after stopping a two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles are going to be a much tougher challenge for the Titans than the Jets were. In order to have a chance at beating them, the Titans will need to improve mightily in all three phases of the game.
For Robert Saleh, he shared how the team has moved on from the disappointing Week 1 loss to the Jets at Wednesday's press conference.
Monday, they had a group meeting. Tuesday, they went into game planning, and Wednesday was about practicing and preparing for the Eagles.
"You're always excited to get back on. You know, I think Wednesday is always a great day because it represents the turning of the page. You know, on Monday we went through and had a really good meeting with the group. Tuesday, you're game planning, and today's about turning the page, moving forward, and getting ready for the opponent."
Saleh and the Titans are trying to move forward, but not everyone has faith in them.
It's not unexpected after a loss like that for people to lose belief in the Titans. One recent article did predict that would play even worse in Week 2.
ESPN's Ben Solak wrote an article predicting some of the things that would take place this weekend. He believes the Titans won't score a single point against the Eagles.
The road is only going to get tougher for the Titans from here on out. How they respond to the season-opener loss could determine how this year is going to go under Saleh.
Sunday's game kicks off at noon CT on Fox. Here's hoping the Titans can prove Solak and the rest of the NFL world wrong.
