Jaguars big win on Sunday was showing Titans they will need a new QB

By Hays Carlyon

NASHVILLE – The Jaguars accomplished what in my mind was their primary goal entering Sunday’s game against AFC South bitter rival Tennessee.

They probably ruined Titans quarterback Will Levis’ chances of a long-term hold on his position.

The Jaguars defense frustrated and battered Levis in a 10-6 victory at Nissan Stadium. The second-year veteran never got going, completing 19 of 32 passes for 168 yards with no touchdowns. He ran once for 3 yards.

The Jaguars defense produced one of its best efforts in a dismal season. The unit was especially impressive on two occasions when the Titans drove inside the 10-yard line.

Levis had played better football over the past four weeks. The buzz in the press box pregame was almost evenly split on whether the Titans would continue to move forward with Levis, who was selected with a high second-round pick.

As the game progressed, it was clear listening to the Titans media it will be hard for Levis to live this performance down. Yes, there are still four games left but Levis was a complete mess too often in this contest.

Tennessee had one final chance to win the game when the Jaguars punted to the Titans 40-yard line with 49 seconds left. The Titans had one timeout.

That’s a situation that most quarterbacks can at least make interesting. Levis went 0-for-4. Game over.

It also won’t help that it was Jaguars quarterback Mac Jones that rallied the Jaguars from a 6-0 deficit to in the fourth quarter to the win.

Now, the Titans will likely invest more prime draft capital in the quarterback position. And they could get it wrong again. That’s good for the Jaguars, who are already dealing with a good, young quarterback in Houston’s CJ Stroud. Like Levis, the jury is still out on Indianapolis’ second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson.

Levis also was inexcusably indecisive on Tennessee’s two trips deep inside Jaguars territory. The Titans were stopped on fourth down twice.

The last thing the Jaguars (3-10) needed was for Levis to look like a star in the making.

That isn’t happening.

Getting the win was nice, but the major victory was a bad Jaguars defense making Levis look like a backup at best in this league.

(You can email Hays at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter/X @HaysCarlyon)