Will Levis discussion in Sando's Pick 6 on The Athletic

[BudsOilers]

 

 

Quote

4. Titans coach Brian Callahan loved how quarterback Will Levis played Sunday. It was a performance for the ages, in a way.

Will Levis took eight sacks and threw a pick six for the Tennessee Titans against the Houston Texans.

 

According to Pro Football Reference, which has unofficial sack data since 1960 (sacks became official in 1982), this was the 36th time since then that an NFL quarterback checked both those dubious boxes — at least eight sacks, at least one pick six — in the same game.

 

Here’s the deal: Levis was already on the list, despite Sunday marking only his 17th career start. He took eight sacks and threw a pick six in a 30-14 defeat to Green Bay in Week 3.

 

The difference Sunday was that Levis’ Titans won the game. Levis played a positive role in the outcome as well, completing 18 of 24 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns. But the Titans’ 32-27 victory over the Texans was an outlier among outliers.

Starting quarterbacks are now 3-33 (.083) since 1960 when taking eight sacks and having an interception returned for a touchdown.

 

Levis is the only quarterback to appear twice on the list. His penchant for taking sacks was already on my radar entering Week 12. I’d been looking for any statistical category for Levis that correlated with Tennessee winning. The answer was clear: Levis’ sack EPA was the key. His ratio of sack EPA in victories versus defeats was the most lopsided through any quarterback’s first 16 starts since 2007, per TruMedia.

 

That changed Sunday when the Titans lost 10.8 EPA on his sacks but still won the game.

The table below stacks Levis’ starts from best to worst sack EPA. The correlation with winning is stark.

 

Why so many sacks?

 

“I don’t think he’s naturally instinctive,” an offensive coach who studied quarterbacks in the 2023 draft said. “Bad things happen as a result.”

 

Callahan, who raised some eyebrows by using the word “dumb” to characterize a Levis fumble against the Jets in his Week 2 postgame news conference, sounded much different Sunday.

 

“I thought he played for the most part fantastic, particularly in the first half,” Callahan said. “You throw interceptions sometimes. To see him come back and fight was great. But I really was happy with the way he played. He put some great balls down the field. He did some really nice things and he protected the ball well outside the interception. That is what quarterbacking looks like.”

 

[smokeater]

With those comments from BC, we better start getting use to seeing mayo boy under center for a while.

 

Levis fails the eye test miserably in the pocket.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an NFL qb look that uncomfortable and awkward in the pocket.  I just don’t know if that’s fixable.  I am, however, going to give him an improvement in accuracy when he does actually throw the ball on time.  Having said that, maybe, I’m hoping, he can get better in the pocket and make quicker correct decisions if the game slows down a little more for him?  I mean, maybe, hopefully.
 

I like BC’s offense and play calling.  If Ran ends up going away I’m perfectly fine with BC staying and continuing to learn the HC job on the fly simply because with the right players his offense is going to roll.  I can cringe and look the other way if he blubbers again as long as points are being put on the board.  

[Bongo59]

I do not have any issues with him taking sacks.  His big play ability more than makes up for this.  

[BudsOilers]

The sacks kill drives 90% of the time.....

[Lars]

Yeah he’d be.a good QB if he had instincts. That’s always been the rub. It’s like if my aunt had balls ..

[freakingeek]

17 minutes ago, Bongo59 said:

I do not have any issues with him taking sacks.  His big play ability more than makes up for this.  

It was a complete outlier to get sacked 8 times and win the game. MOST of those sacks were avoidable and at the very least were a loss of down.

[Bongo59]

14 minutes ago, BudsOilers said:

The sacks kill drives 90% of the time.....

That is still OK because it does not lead to TO.  He is capable of scoring from anywhere on the field.

[Bongo59]

6 minutes ago, freakingeek said:

It was a complete outlier to get sacked 8 times and win the game. MOST of those sacks were avoidable and at the very least were a loss of down.

Not most.  4 were.  The two against both of the OT were legit sacks.  

 

Levis yards per completion is what makes him special.  Cally has finally got his head of out of ass.  His play calling still is more concerning than Levis plays.  

[BudsOilers]

Just now, Bongo59 said:

That is still OK because it does not lead to TO.  He is capable of scoring from anywhere on the field.

A 3rd down sack, sure UNLESS you risk taking yourself out of FG range.  Something Levis pushed the envelope on twice yesterday.

 

On early downs, you avoid the negative play to improve your chances of extending drives.

[Titans_Win_Again]

It's tough to improve pocket presence much, but he's so bad I think they can find some low hanging fruit that helps mitigate it a bit. Improving the oline would help, obviously.

 

Regardless, it's been fun to watch these last few weeks, unlike the rest of the season. 

[FRT]

5 hours ago, Bongo59 said:

I do not have any issues with him taking sacks.  His big play ability more than makes up for this.  

Every time a QB take a hit from a 250 to 350 # man it could be his last in the NFL.  You know, knee surgery in the neck region…

[TeamRamrod]

6 hours ago, smokeater said:

With those comments from BC, we better start getting use to seeing mayo boy under center for a while.

 

Levis fails the eye test miserably in the pocket.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an NFL qb look that uncomfortable and awkward in the pocket.  I just don’t know if that’s fixable.  I am, however, going to give him an improvement in accuracy when he does actually throw the ball on time.  Having said that, maybe, I’m hoping, he can get better in the pocket and make quicker correct decisions if the game slows down a little more for him?  I mean, maybe, hopefully.
 

I like BC’s offense and play calling.  If Ran ends up going away I’m perfectly fine with BC staying and continuing to learn the HC job on the fly simply because with the right players his offense is going to roll.  I can cringe and look the other way if he blubbers again as long as points are being put on the board.  

Why would Ran go anywhere?

[Callidus]

6 hours ago, BudsOilers said:

The sacks kill drives 90% of the time.....

I will say while still terrible him running back up to the line of scrimmage is an improvement....

 

That said, his penchant for taking a sack after a sack is mind blowingly bad and absolutely kills drives. If not for folk going off yesterday he would have cost us points twice with it. 

[Callidus]

16 minutes ago, TeamRamrod said:

Why would Ran go anywhere?

Maybe he is hungry and they dont have what he wants in the cafeteria?

[9 Nines]

7 hours ago, smokeater said:

With those comments from BC, we better start getting use to seeing mayo boy under center for a while.

 

Levis fails the eye test miserably in the pocket.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an NFL qb look that uncomfortable and awkward in the pocket.  I just don’t know if that’s fixable.  I am, however, going to give him an improvement in accuracy when he does actually throw the ball on time.  Having said that, maybe, I’m hoping, he can get better in the pocket and make quicker correct decisions if the game slows down a little more for him?  I mean, maybe, hopefully.
 

I like BC’s offense and play calling.  If Ran ends up going away I’m perfectly fine with BC staying and continuing to learn the HC job on the fly simply because with the right players his offense is going to roll.  I can cringe and look the other way if he blubbers again as long as points are being put on the board.  

If Peyton and Will are willing, this could be done: