Titans coach Brian Callahan sees positives going into matchup with Rams

Coming off a 3-14 season, the Tennessee Titans opened 2025 with a mistake-filled performance last week in a 20-12 loss at Denver. A winnable game was lost when the offense managed just six points off four Broncos turnovers and the team committed a whopping 13 penalties for 131 yards.

But second-year coach Brian Callahan, whose team hosts the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, said the team isn't resigned to another year of losing football.

"This team is very different (than last year)," he said. "I love the makeup of our football team. They have the right mentality. We have really good leadership. I really do like the makeup of our football team and where we stand."

Where Tennessee stands at this point is pretty similar to where they stood a year ago. The Titans have some strengths defensively, able to get after the passer and force turnovers, but they haven't yet shown the ability to do much on offense.

Quarterback Cam Ward, the top overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, was just 12 of 28 for 112 yards in Denver, taking six sacks. He also didn't get much help from his teammates, who by one estimate dropped eight passes.

Callahan was happy with Ward's focus, praising him for his ability to audible into better plays at the scrimmage line.

"He's earned the right to have control," the coach said. "It's something you have to earn."

Not only did the offensive line fail to protect the quarterback, they also weren't able to produce many creases in the running game. Veteran Tony Pollard managed only 60 yards on 18 carries, a 3.3 average, putting more pressure on Ward.

On paper, Los Angeles might not be the ideal opponent for a struggling offense. The Rams were pretty stout defensively in Week 1, holding the Houston Texans without a touchdown in a 14-9 home victory.

Linebacker Nate Landman earned NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors after logging 10 tackles and forcing a key fumble late in the game to preserve the win. Pro Football Focus gave him a grade of 90.7, the second-highest game grade in the career of the former Atlanta Falcon (36 games, 23 starts from 2022-24).

Los Angeles came up with two turnovers and three sacks against Houston while limiting it to 265 total yards.

Ninth-year Rams coach Sean McVay is impressed with what Ward is doing for Tennessee.

"There's a reason he went No. 1 overall," McVay said. "He's a guy that we're going to have to do a great job of bottling up because he can make plays in the pocket, off-schedule. He's just one of those guys that's kind of a gamer."

The contrast in quarterbacks on Sunday couldn't be more stark. While Ward, 23, is cutting his teeth in the NFL, the Rams' Matthew Stafford, 37, became the 10th player in league history to surpass 60,000 career passing yards in Week 1, throwing for 245 yards and a touchdown.

Callahan said Stafford is still one of the game's top quarterbacks and lavished praise on Los Angeles, calling it a good football team all the way around.

One potential issue for the Rams might be the health of guards Kevin Dotson and Steve Avila, who are both battling ankle sprains. McVay referred to both as "week-to-week."

The Rams have an 8-6 series advantage between the franchises, including a Christmas Eve win, 27-23, in 2017 when they last visited Nashville. The St. Louis Rams defeated Tennessee 23-16 in Super Bowl XXXIV to conclude the 1999 season.

--Field Level Media