Titans trying to avoid worst start since 2009 with Packers hoping Jordan Love is back at QB

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Brian Callahan has seen winless starts finish with winning records in the NFL, so the first-year Tennessee coach has reminded his Titans that the season is long enough to rewarded those who fix mistakes quickly.

They better respond to avoid the franchise's worst start to a season since losing the first six in 2009.

Callahan helped Cincinnati earn winning records each of the past two seasons after dropping the first two games. Houston won the AFC South last season, bouncing back from an 0-2 start. The Titans see their stingy defense and early leads as proof they easily could be undefeated. Untimely mistakes, including second-year quarterback Will Levis turning the ball over too much, are why they are winless with Green Bay visiting Sunday.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that have played a lot of football," Titans safety Amani Hooker said of Callahan's message. "So we’re able to understand what it’s going to take to win.”

What the Titans don't know is whether they'll face Jordan Love or recent teammate Malik Willis at quarterback. Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur, who spent the 2018 season as Tennessee's offensive coordinator under Mike Vrabel, said Love's status will be decided Sunday when the Packers (1-1) have to hand in their list of inactive players.

The Packers ran their way to a 16-10 win over Indianapolis to ease Willis into his first start with a team he joined at the end of August. Love is testing a brace to protect his injured left medial collateral ligament injured in the Packers' opening loss. He said the brace affects his mobility, which is a huge part of his game.

“You’d love to be able to just sit in the pocket and be a pocket-passer, but it’s just not realistic," Love said. “There’s things that happen in the pocket where you’ve got to get out of there, avoid pressure, and sometimes you’ve got to move the sticks with your legs.”

The Titans have lost their first two games by the exact 24-17 score, the most recent to the Jets. Two-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons said it doesn't matter who Green Bay starts at quarterback with Tennessee preparing to face both Love and Willis.

“We just have to prepare to win,” Simmons said.

The Packers lead the NFL with 21 “explosive plays” of a run of at least 12 yards or a pass of 16 yards or more. That won't be as easy against the Titans, who have allowed a league-low 413 total yards and an average of 114 yards passing. The Titans aren't as easy to prepare for with new defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson with only two games on tape.

“He’s an experienced guy in this league, and then when you couple that with really good players, you have a chance to be a really good defense," LaFleur said. "And they do all the little things the right way, in terms of the effort and physicality that they play with.”

Green Bay leads the league in averaging 212 yards rushing after using that run-heavy approach last week for 261 yards on the ground.

The Packers have several Tennessee ties in addition to Willis and LaFleur. Green Bay claimed rookie kicker Brayden Narveson off waivers from the Titans after he went 6 of 7 in the preseason with a long field goal of 59 yards. Narveson is 6 of 8 for the Packers, though he has missed a kick in each of the first two games.

As for Willis, he has no hard feelings toward the Titans, who traded him once deciding Mason Rudolph would back up Levis. Willis started three games as a rookie for the Titans after they traded up in the third round to draft him out of Liberty in 2022.

“They took a shot on me,” Willis said.

Josh Jacobs has 48 carries to tie San Francisco’s Jordan Mason for the NFL lead. Jacobs had 32 of those against the Colts, just one off his career high. But he is the only Packer with more than nine rushes so far even as Green Bay has mixed in rushing attempts by wide receivers Jayden Reed and Bo Melton.

The Packers have AJ Dillon and rookie MarShawn Lloyd on injured reserve, which has forced them to rely more on Jacobs. Dillon is out for the entire season with a neck issue, while Lloyd will miss at least Green Bay’s next four games with an ankle injury.

The Packers have five interceptions and six total takeaways this season to lead the NFL in both categories. The Titans have committed five turnovers already to match the Denver Broncos for the most of any NFL team — all by Levis, which the Packers have noticed.

“We just hope he gives us some more this week,” Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon said.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis (8) fumbles the ball in the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander (23) greets fans as he leaves the field after defeting Indianapolis Colts in an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)

Tennessee Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley (0) celebrates after scoring a touchdown in the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Green Bay Packers linebacker Eric Wilson (45) celebrate as intercepting a pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)

Tennessee Titans linebacker Harold Landry III (58) celebrates after sacking New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) in the first half of an NFL football game in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Green Bay Packers quarterback Malik Willis (2) celebrates with fans as he leaves the field after defeating the Indianapolis Colts in an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)

Tennessee Titans coach Brian Callahan speaks with Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis (8) in the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Titans trying to avoid worst start since 2009 with Packers hoping Jordan Love is back at QB

Injured Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love looks on as head coach Matt LaFleur walks by during the first half of an NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)

Titans trying to avoid worst start since 2009 with Packers hoping Jordan Love is back at QB

MAPUTO, Mozambique (AP) — Mozambique is voting for a new president on Wednesday in an election that is expected to extend the ruling party's 49 years in power since the southern African nation gained independence from Portugal in 1975.

Daniel Chapo, 47, is the candidate for the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique, or Frelimo, seeking to succeed President Filipe Nyusi, who has served a maximum two terms.

Analysts say the strongest challenge to Chapo and Frelimo's dominance will likely come from 50-year-old independent Venancio Mondlane, a newcomer to national politics.

People also will vote for the makeup of Parliament and for provincial governors in a country of some 33 million people that went through a bloody, 15-year civil war that ended in 1992, and more recently has been shaken by an ongoing violent jihadist insurgency in the north.

Ending that insurgency and bringing stability to Cabo Delgado province — where 1.3 million fled their homes and more than half remain displaced — is a pledge by both leading candidates, while poverty, youth unemployment and government corruption are top issues for voters.

"I am still selling biscuits at a vegetable market here in Maputo to take care of my two children," 35-year-old Felicidade Simao said at a polling station. “My husband is unemployed and we are struggling. I want the best for my children and the winner of this election must make the dream of a better life in the future.”

Vote-counting is due to start right after polls close in the one-day election. Preliminary results from some areas are expected from Thursday, and the full results must be delivered to the Constitutional Council within 15 days of polls closing to be validated and formally declared. Around 17 million people are registered to vote.

The credibility of the election will be under scrutiny, with the leftist Frelimo party accused of ballot-stuffing and falsifying results in previous votes, including last year's local elections.

Frelimo has consistently denied the accusations of election tampering. Teams of regional and international election observers are in Mozambique, including from the European Union.

Frelimo effectively established a one-party state following independence and fought a civil war against the Mozambique National Resistance, or Renamo, for a decade and a half. The country, where Portuguese remains the official language, held its first elections in 1994, two years after a peace agreement.

Renamo is also contesting this election, with party leader Ossufo Momade, a military commander in the civil war, its candidate for president. The peace between Frelimo and Renamo has been fragile, with an outbreak of more fighting in 2013. Momade and outgoing leader Nyusi signed another peace deal in 2019.

But tensions remain, especially between the two political parties that were once at war with each other.

There are four candidates for president: Chapo, Mondlane, Momade and Lutero Simango of the Mozambique Democratic Movement, who is viewed as an outsider.

“I thank the entire Mozambican population for this opportunity we have today,” favorite Chapo said as he voted in the southern city of Inhambane. “We equally salute everyone for this orderly and peaceful environment seen since the beginning of the electoral campaign.”

The independent Mondlane, who broke away from Renamo, has focused his campaign on young Mozambicans frustrated with poverty and unemployment. The country boasts a long coastline of picturesque beaches on the Indian Ocean, but that vulnerable area has been battered by cyclones in recent years. A drought this year in the southern African region has left more than a million Mozambicans impacted by hunger.

Meanwhile, it emerged in 2016 that government officials and others had embezzled more than $2 billion in foreign loans that were kept secret, sending the economy into a crisis from which it is still recovering.

“All Mozambicans have high hopes from the new president,” said 69-year-old Baptista Antonio, who was one of the first to vote at an elementary school in the capital and port city of Maputo. "I was born during the colonial era and saw many transformations of the country from wars to development and all I can say is it’s a work in progress. There are many challenges ahead.”

Mondlane was aligned with a coalition of opposition parties, but they were barred from contesting the election, which raised accusations against Frelimo of attempting to control the election. He is now supported by a new party called Podemos, which means “we can” in Portuguese. A former banker, Mondlane drew large crowds to some of his boisterous pre-election rallies, and his emergence is a new challenge to Frelimo, which has traditionally won national elections comfortably ahead of Renamo.

Most analysts expect Frelimo to remain in power. It was declared the winner with more than 70% of the vote in national elections five years ago.

The Pangea risk company, which provides security and investment advice on developing countries, said Chapo's election has been "carefully stage managed" by Frelimo.

Chapo worked as a radio announcer and television presenter before becoming a law professor. He was the governor of southern Inhambane province — Mozambique's flagship tourism region — but was a surprise winner of an internal party vote in May to become Frelimo's presidential candidate.

Chapo would be Mozambique's first leader born after independence if he wins.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

A pedestrian passes a wall of election posters in Maputo, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, ahead of elections to be held in Mozambique. (AP Photo/Carlos Uqueio)

A poster of independent candidate Venacio Mondlane is held at an election rally on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024 in Maputo ahead of elections in Mozambique. (AP Photo/Carlos Uqueio)

A building displays ruling party posters in support of presidential candidate Daniel Chapo ahead of elections in Maputo, Mozambique, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Uqueio)

People queue to cast their votes during the general elections in Maputo, Mozambique, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Mangwiro)

People queue to cast their votes during the general elections in Maputo, Mozambique, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Mangwiro)

People queue to cast their votes during general elections in Maputo, Mozambique, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Equeio)

People queue to cast their votes during general elections in Maputo, Mozambique, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Equeio)

People queue to cast their votes during the general elections in Maputo, Mozambique, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Mangwiro)

People queue to cast their votes during general elections in Maputo, Mozambique, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Equeio)

People queue to cast their votes during general elections in Maputo, Mozambique, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Equeio)

People queue to cast their votes during general elections in Maputo, Mozambique, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Equeio)

Supporters take part in a ruling party rally for presidential candidate Daniel Chapo, centre, ahead of elections, in Maputo, Mozambique, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Uqueio)

A woman sits between bread rolls in Maputo, Mozambique, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024 ahead of elections to be held in the country. (AP Photo/Carlos Uqueio)

Independent candidate Venacio Mondlane, atop truck, attends an election rally in Maputo, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024 ahead of elections to be held in Mozambique. (AP Photo/Carlos Uqueio)

Supporters take part in a ruling party rally to support presidential candidate Daniel Chapo ahead of elections, in Maputo, Mozambique, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Uqueio)