The Tennessee Titans had an opportunity to notch their first win of the season in Week 5 against the Houston Texans, who were also 0-4 entering the weekend. Those hopes were quickly dashed, as the Texans throttled the Titans by a final score of 26-3.
You wouldn't have guessed that both teams were winless after watching this game. The Titans were nowhere close to meeting their AFC South rival's level.
Before we get into a more detailed breakdown, here are some from-the-hip reactions to another Titans beatdown.
Instant takeaways from Titans' Week 5 loss to Texans
Early mistakes killed Titans' momentum
The Titans continue to shoot themselves in the foot early in games. Tyjae Spears' first-quarter fumble killed the momentum that Tennessee had generated in the first few minutes of action and set the Texans up for a field goal to take the lead. On the next drive, Cam Ward threw an interception that allowed Houston to get another field goal.
The Robert Saleh defense is Robert Saleh-ing
Tennessee's defense consistently did a good job of rallying to the football. Robert Saleh's swarming style of defense is clearly taking root. The Titans had multiple defenders in on nearly every tackle, rarely allowing unearned yardage. That bend-don't-break philosophy kept the Titans in the game longer than they should have been.
Jeffery Simmons can't be contained
As frustrating as parts of this game were for the Titans, it's impossible to deny the impact made by Jeffery Simmons. The big defensive tackle worked his way into Houston's backfield throughout the game, consistently disrupting their plans. It didn't matter if he was double-teamed; Simmons was clearly the best player on the field. On a better team, he'd be generating DPOY buzz.
Carnell Tate's breakout disappeared
Last week, Carnell Tate showed why the Titans drafted him with a nine-catch, 145-yard performance. Not only did he come back to earth in Week 5, but he fell flat on his face. Tate didn't catch a pass in the first half. He failed to haul in a deep ball from Cam Ward that, while not an easy catch, was certainly a play he could have made. Tate finished the day with one catch for six yards.
Cam Ward avoided Texans' monstrous pass rush
There weren't many positives to take away from Ward's performance, but he did do an admirable job of escaping pressure. The Texans sent exotic blitzes at him and set their duo of elite edge rushers up to tee off on him, but Ward was consistently able to extend plays with his legs. Unfortunately, his receivers were rarely able to deliver at the end of those plays.
The dam broke late in the game, as the Texans were able to log multiple fourth-quarter sacks, but Ward evaded one of the NFL's best pass rushes for most of the day.
Titans fans are running out of patience with the Brian Daboll offense
Ward certainly deserves part of the blame for this loss, but Brian Daboll is far from innocent. The Titans' inability to stretch the field deep or find chunk gains on the ground made the offense as stale as ever. Coming into this game, Tennessee was tied for the third-fewest offensive plays of 20 or more yards. It didn't get any better this week.
Penalties killed Titans' biggest plays on offense
This game was a lost cause on multiple fronts, but a few offensive plays could have helped the result look a bit better if they weren't called back. Tate had a long catch down the sideline in the third quarter that got called back for holding. Later, Tyjae Spears took a short pass for an explosive gain into the red zone, but it was brought back by another holding call. This team's lack of discipline continues to cause problems.
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