MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — If you’re looking for scenarios in which the nosediving Tennessee Titans can beat the streaking Miami Dolphins here Monday, the list is short.
The Dolphins are two-score favorites at home on Monday, a place where they haven’t lost in a year.
Still, this is the NFL. Stranger things have happened.
But for the Titans to pull off the upset of the week — and perhaps the year — they’re going to need big plays from rookie quarterback Will Levis.
Fortunately for Tennessee, he’s more than capable.
Can Will Levis, Tennessee Titans Pull Upset of Miami Dolphins?
The Titans took Levis in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft based largely on his upside. He’s 6’4″, 229 pounds with rare arm talent.
And while he might never be the league’s most accurate quarterback — he’s completed just 56.4% of his passes in his last five starts — opposing teams know not to sleep on Levis’ big-play ability.
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He leads the NFL in average intended air yards (9.9) and is seventh in averaged completed air yards (6.5). The Titans are tied for second in pass plays of 40 or more yards (nine). The only team with more? The Dolphins, with 10.
“He can throw the ball far, and they like to do a lot of it,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said this week.
“I think they have currently — the Titans’ offense — little-known fact, I think they lead the league in plus-20-yard throws, 22% of their passes, I believe — you can check me on that because I’m pretty sure it’s right — are of that depth, so they challenge you.”
Levis plays on a team with two of the biggest names of the last decade — Derrick Henry and DeAndre Hopkins. And yet, per McDaniel, the rookie out of Kentucky has earned the respect of those veterans.
“As a quarterback, there’s nowhere to hide,” McDaniel added. “So it’s cool to watch him progress, and I think he is capable of making, I think, pretty much every throw.
“They have some guys that can catch the ball that you’ve probably heard of and teams — we can attest as we’ve had plenty of times that we’re going through some adversity, but you can tell by the way that the Tennessee Titans play in terms of how hard they play and their passion, that it’s just a matter of time that team is at the top of the division with coach [Mike] Vrabel
“So to be to be a part of that team and to own the respect of his teammates, I think says everything.”
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