Boos and chants of 'Fire Callahan' heard during Titans' 41-20 loss to the Colts

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Boos and chants of 'Fire Callahan' heard during Titans' 41-20 loss to the Colts

2025-09-22 07:52 Last Updated At：08:01

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans came into this season knowing they would be busy rebuilding with a youth movement and a coach in Brian Callahan working with a rookie quarterback.

They may be patient. Fans increasingly are not.

Boos and chants of “Fire Callahan” could be heard Sunday during a 41-20 loss to AFC South rival Indianapolis, including during a halftime ceremony with controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk on the field.

Asked about his job security postgame, Callahan said he doesn't worry about that. His focus is on putting the Titans into as good a position as possible.

“The rest of that stuff is what it is,” Callahan said. “I don’t think about those things. You really can’t. This is hard enough as it is to put those other things and think about that, it doesn’t do anybody any good. So, I just go to work and work as hard as I can. I put as much effort as I can into this.”

Callahan now is 3-17 since being hired by the Titans in January 2024, having lost nine straight going back to his debut season.

The only thing the Titans won Sunday was the toss in a game with four starters, including the right side of the offensive line, out injured. They trailed 7-0 three plays after the kickoff when Kenny Moore picked off Cam Ward's pass to Tony Pollard and went 33 yards to the end zone.

That was the only turnover. The Titans hurt themselves yet again allowing four sacks, missed tackles, eight penalties for 68 yards and a blocked field goal.

Callahan had a second game where his decisions as a play-caller leading up to halftime wound up costing the Titans points. Down 17-6 on a drive that started with 3:15 left and three timeouts, the Titans ran five straight plays down to the Indy 39 to set up fourth-and-1.

The Colts took a timeout. Callahan took a timeout. The Titans' offense stayed on the field, and Ward said after the game he wanted to go for it.

Then kicker Joey Slye and the field goal unit came out before being flagged for delay of game. Slye's 62-yard attempt was blocked. The Colts used the final 37 seconds for another field goal and a 20-6 halftime lead.

Callahan said he went back and forth over trying to pick up a first down or go for points. He decided on a field-goal attempt with Slye coming into Sunday 8 of 8 except: “The operational part of it to kick it on time didn’t happen.”

The Titans coach said they didn't want to be flagged for a delay of game.

“Obviously looks really bad at the end of the day,” Callahan said. “That was not the intention to do that. So wanted to be able to kick it.”

The boos got louder as the Titans went to the locker room. Callahan took a bit longer than usual postgame talking with his team. Linebacker Cody Barton wouldn't divulge what was said. He did say Callahan is the first to own up to mistakes.

“And I respect that,” Barton said.

The Titans won't have to hear the home crowd booing with the next three games on the road. If Tennessee goes winless in that stretch, Callahan will match Ken Whisenhunt's 3-20 record before he was fired by Strunk in November 2015.

Worse, the Titans' next home game Oct. 19 comes against New England and the coach Strunk fired in Mike Vrabel before hiring Callahan.

“We can keep saying ‘Cally this, Cally that,’ but Jonathan Taylor just ran for how many yards?” three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons said.

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49ers’ injury-plagued season ends with a dud in lopsided loss to Seahawks

SEATTLE (AP) — No game more perfectly embodied the San Francisco 49ers’ yearlong injury woes than their finale Saturday night.

Late in the third quarter of a 41-6 drubbing against the NFC West rival Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round, star running back Christian McCaffrey wound up in the injury tent with a stinger while starting tight end Jake Tonges, who only entered the lineup because George Kittle tore his right Achilles last week, followed soon after.

As San Francisco limped to a finish, so, too, did its roster.

“When you’re playing with guys you’re signing off the practice squad,” left tackle Trent Williams said, “guys (you are) taking off the street — you got to temper expectations a bit.”

San Francisco had won six in a row before losing to Seattle 13-3 in the regular-season finale, and churned out those victories without injured All-Pros like linebacker Fred Warner and defensive end Nick Bosa.

“So many rosters were fully loaded while we were playing with guys that we got a week ago, two weeks ago, some guys signed at the beginning of the season, some guys signed in the middle of the season,” Williams said. “The fact that we were able to get to this part of the season, divisional round in the playoffs and give ourselves a chance to get in the NFC Championship and we’re extremely shorthanded, I’m proud of this team.”

The 49ers ran into a Seahawks team that continued to improve as the season progressed, and outscored the 49ers 54-9 in the last two games.

Seattle limited quarterback Brock Purdy and San Francisco to just two field goals in the 49ers’ second-most lopsided playoff loss in franchise history. San Francisco lost 49-3 to the New York Giants in the divisional round in the 1986 season.

Purdy had to run for his life all evening, and completed 15 of 27 passes for 140 yards with an interception and a fumble.

“It’s no secret in terms of their style of play,” Purdy said about Seattle’s defense. “It’s try to make the quarterback check it down and play deep to short. And then within that, have a good pass rush. And that’s a good defense, man. Like, it’s a smart way to play.”

Much of the season, the 49ers held serve with NFC West foes like the Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams, both of whom are still alive in the playoffs. They split their season series with each opponent.

Should the Rams beat the Chicago Bears on Sunday, though, it would be another NFC West showdown in Seattle for a spot in the Super Bowl.

But as the 49ers quite literally hobbled to the end of the 2025 season, it also spurred some contemplation from its top players about how to properly reflect on the 49ers’ season. McCaffrey, who did briefly return after his injury, called it an “emotional roller-coaster” to go through the season.

“What I will say is this is, in all my years playing, the proudest I’ve ever been to be a part of a team,” McCaffrey said. “It’s this team; I love everybody in that locker room.”

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