Last week, Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan got a look at his previous employer. Zac Taylor’s former offensive coordinator and his team had an opportunity to take advantage of one of the league’s worst defensive units. Sure enough, the Titans owned a 14-7 first-quarter lead.
It all came apart after that. The Cincinnati Bengals would score the next 24 points, and midway through the third quarter owned a 31-14 lead en route to 37-27 triumph. The Titans dropped to 3-11, equaling their loss total from a year ago.
It’s rematch time for Callahan’s team the rest of the season as the club closes with three straight games vs. their AFC South rivals. It begins with a trip to Indianapolis, as the Titans look to snap a losing streak in this divisional series.
The Last Time
Back in Week 6 in Nashville, the Colts extended their current winning streak in this series with a 20-17 come-from-behind. Steichen’s team won at Nissan Stadium for the second consecutive year, and all three of Indianapolis’ wins have come by seven points or less. The Titans owned a 17-10 third-quarter lead, only to give up the final 10 points of the game. Veteran quarterback Joe Flacco found Michael Pittman Jr. with a 10-yard TD pass with 7:27 to play that proved to be the difference.
Quarterbacks: Tale of the Tape
Mason Rudolph gets the nod for Callahan’s club. He came in for Will Levis in the third quarter of last week’s loss to the Bengals following a pick-six, his fourth turnover of the game. Rudolph will be making his sixth appearance of the season, and fourth start. He’s hit on 63.5 percent of his throws for 1,015 yards and six scores. However, he’s also served up five interceptions, and lost one of his four fumbles this year.
While Flacco was the starting quarterback for Steichen’s team in the clubs’ first meeting in 2024, Anthony Richardson will be at the controls on Sunday afternoon. In 10 games, he’s connected on only 47.0 percent of his passes. While Richardson has thrown seven TDs, he’s been picked off 11 times, and lost three of his nine fumbles. He has run for 429 yards and is tied for the team-lead with five rushing touchdowns.
Defensive Analysis
After last week’s clash with Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow, who threw for 271 yards and three scores, the Titans’ pass defense slipped from first to third in the league. The good news versus the Bengals was that Callahan’s club came up with a season-high four takeaways, continuing a recent trend. Tennessee has forced nine turnovers in their last four games. The team had a mere seven takeaways in its first 10 contests.
The unpredictable Colts have allowed 118 points in their six wins, compared to 211 points in their eight setbacks. Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley has seen his unit surrender 34 offensive touchdowns in 14 outings,
Keys to the Game
Titans: Can Callahan’s team hang onto the football? After last Sunday’s mistake-prone outing in which the Titans gave up the football six times, the team now leads the NFL with 29 turnovers. That is already nine more miscues than a season ago (20) in 17 games. Callahan is counting on Rudolph to be a bit better in terms of ball security. It should be a busy day for Tony Pollard vs. the league’s 30th-ranked run defense.
Colts: While Tennessee leads the NFL in turnovers, Steichen’s club isn’t far behind with 25 miscues. More than half of those turnovers have come via Richardson (14), which means that the Colts should stress the ground game and explosive Jonathan Taylor. Last week, he cost himself and the team a touchdown when he dropped the ball before he reached the end zone. But he ran for 107 yards vs. Denver’s strong defense.
Titans Player to Watch
Richardson’s issues in terms of taking care of the football should give unsung Titans’ safety Amani Hooker an opportunity to help out the Tennessee offense. While the six-year pro doesn’t rate very high when it comes to the fine folks at Pro Football Focus (tied for 58th), he does lead the Titans in picks—totaling four of the club’s 10 interceptions.
Although the 2019 fourth-round pick from the University of Iowa did not come up with an interception in his rookie campaign, but he’s stolen a combined 11 passes the past five seasons. His four picks in 2024 ties a career-high set originally in his second season. Hooker is second on the team this season with 65 defensive stops in 13 outings. He’s also come up with a pair of forced fumbles, and is tied for the club lead with Jarvis Brownlee when it comes to passes defensed (8).