When the Tennessee Titans fired former offensive coordinator Todd Downing, it was assumed he had seen his last days as a play-caller in the NFL. Boy, were we wrong.
Downing was an absolute disaster in Tennessee, which was his second unsuccessful stint as a play-caller after he also struck out with the Raiders. Downing's offenses were predictable (he was the run, run, pass king) and badly lacked creativity, and terrible results made him public enemy No. 1 in Nashville.
In Downing's first season on the job in 2021, Tennessee finished 17th in total yards, 24th in passing yards, fifth in rushing yards and 15th in points scored. Then, things got worse in Year 2, with the Titans ranking 30th, 30th, 13th and 28th in those categories, respectively.
Sure, offensive line and injury woes were issues, but Downing's play-calling only made things worse and failed to adjust to anything Tennessee had going on.
Downing's issues extended to off the field, also, as he was arrested for a DUI in 2022 just hours one of Tennessee's best offensive showings under him in a Week 11 win over the Aaron Rodgers-led Green Bay Packers.
Despite all of his woes in Tennessee, Downing quickly landed on his feet with the New York Jets, where he was hired as the passing-game coordinator in 2023 before having quarterbacks coach added to his title in 2024.
Seeing Downing get a job as a passing-game coordinator was shocking to Titans fans, considering he had no answers for Tennessee's struggling passing attack, which was the offense's biggest weakness over his two years as the play-caller.
It's even more shocking that Downing is getting another chance as a play-caller, but then again, he's replacing Nathaniel Hackett, who had an even worse offense than Downing's during his lone year in Denver in 2022. With Hackett and Downing, the Jets did not leave their offense in good hands.
In the wake of announcing Downing as the Jets' play-caller, Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich had a quote about Tennessee's offense under Downing that almost certainly will cause uncontrollable laughter from Titans fans.
"For every Tennessee offense that I ever went against when Todd was the play-caller there, they were tough, they were ruthless, they finished, they ran the ball and they played on their terms," Ulbrich said. "There's definitely a style that appealed to me in that way."
Ulbrich must be confused with the Arthur Smith-led offenses, because that is not an accurate description. We refer you back to the rankings we listed earlier in the article. They run contrary to literally everything Ulbrich said. In reality, Tennessee's offense stunk under Downing, plain and simple.
Perhaps Downing can turn things around in New York and get the team on track, but Jets fans should not be holding their breath for that to happen.
