SANTA CLARA, CA ― It's time to reset the old PanicMeter. The Tennessee Titans bested the San Francisco 49ers 19-13 at Levi's Stadium in their preseason showdown on Aug. 13, but that comes with a whole lot of asterisks. The 49ers didn't play any of the stars that make them habitual contenders, while the Titans kept their starting offense and their starting defense on the field for three series each. In the six series where the Titans starters faced the 49ers backups, the game drew with a 7-7 stalemate. And this follows a joint practice on Aug. 11 where the 49ers routinely beat the Titans, even if that's to be expected when a practice pits a Super Bowl contender against a team with a first-year coaching staff. But now we're overwhelming ourselves with context. So let's turn to the PanicMeter, a simple and time-honored method for understanding how nervous fans should be about their teams in the preseason. We'll take four spins on the PanicMeter, discussing some of the big trends of Titans training camp and, hopefully, coming to an understanding of where those trends stand after a week in the Bay Area.
Should Titans fans be panicking about ... Cam Ward and the passing attack? To coach Robert Saleh's eye, Ward seemed to be rushing his mechanics a little bit in this game, not much of a surprise for a first game back and a first game in a new scheme. The second-year quarterback agreed to an extent, adding that he didn't feel like he was ever off-rhythm but more than he wasn't on target where he was aiming. That's a trend that, seemingly, carried over from training camp and the first joint practice. Talking to receiver Wan'Dale Robinson after the game, he said timing is an ongoing development and for as much as it can be honed during the offseason, it really comes with trust build from game reps. These were the first game reps, so if Robinson's right, it's hard to penalize Ward and the gang too much. PanicMeter score: Low Should Titans fans be panicking about ... the secondary? Saleh actually answered this one himself. Let's start there. "I’d love to tell you there’s no concern, but there’s a sense of urgency to making sure that we get it fixed," Saleh told reporters postgame. "We’ll continue to put our guys in those situations in practice so we can continue to get that work. We’ll never panic, but urgency will always be high." Third-string 49ers quarterback Kurtis Rourke went 12-for-14 with 101 yards throwing against the Titans' starting defense. Rookie De'Zhaun Stribling caught seven of his eight targets for 63 yards, including a 32-yard jump ball over Cor'Dale Flott. So much of what the Niners do well is condense their offense, and that forces secondaries to play more off coverage and accept some dink-and-dunk completions. But Stribling was the only one of the 49ers' projected top-five receivers who was targeted in this game. In theory, the Titans' best DBs should've had a huge advantage, but it didn't play out that way. "We’ve got to get this (expletive) together right now," Flott said when told of Saleh's urgency over panic method. "We’ve got to bring that intent to practice to fix it and correct those things and find a way to improve." PanicMeter score: High Should Titans fans be panicking about ... the right guard competition? Rookie Fernando Carmona Jr. hasn't won the job, but he's got a pretty sizable lead. He's taken the lion's share of the most significant reps this week and played the entire first half ahead of Jackson Slater and Cordell Volson vs. San Francisco. "He put his foot in the door, now he’s got to blast through," Saleh said. "He’s done a nice job. I’m looking forward to seeing the tape. I feel like it was pretty good." When asked what blasting through the door looks like for a guard, Carmona laughed and said he doesn't know. His plan is just to keep working hard and being the steady presence Saleh praises him for being. PanicMeter score: Medium-low Should Titans fans be panicking about ... K Joey Slye Slye had a no good week last week and the Titans responded by working out four free agent kickers. So Slye responded with a nice practice in Santa Clara and then by hitting field goals from 53, 55 and 58 yards in the game. That's a pretty decisive bounce back. "I know what I need to do. I’m not naive," Slye said. "My job is pretty simple: Make kicks. Today I obviously did that." Slye explained there's a bit of an adjustment to live kicking with a holder and a rush after spending the summer kicking off tees and sticks. He's honed in on a couple of corrections, addressing some historic issues that've forced him to push kicks to the right, and he feels like he's in a good place. Again, Slye's had historic consistency setbacks so it's unlikely that he's perfected his craft overnight. But he's trending up. PanicMeter score: Medium-low Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X @nicksuss. Subscribe to the Talkin’ Titans newsletter for updates sent directly to your inbox. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: We spin the Titans PanicMeter after preseason game, joint practice vs 49ers