It wasn’t long ago that Brian Callahan’s club came up with its biggest win of the season. The Tennessee Titans went into Houston in Week 12 and knocked off the division-leading Texans, 32-27. There was an opportunity for that victory to be a springboard to a strong finish.
Instead, the team appears headed in the opposite direction. An ugly 42-19 loss to the Commanders at Washington was followed by Sunday’s 10-6 home setback to the rival Jacksonvile Jaguars. Callahan’s team was obviously mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, and it ensured the fact that the Titans would lose at least 10 games for the third consecutive season.
Tennessee falls to 1-5 at home this season
What went right: Another Tony award
There was seemingly somewhat of a bright spot on Sunday, but it wound up being just a flickering light. Running back Tony Pollard has arguably been the team’s most consistent offensive threat. In his first season with the Titans, he’s on the verge of his third consecutive 1,000-yard campaign via the ground. In his final two seasons with Dallas, he ran for 1,007 yards in 16 games in 2022, and 1,005 yards in 17 contests in ’23. In 13 outings this season, he’s already rushed for 937 yards.
On Sunday, he ran 21 times for 102 yards vs. the Jaguars—the third time in his last six games that he’s reached the century mark on the ground. Unfortunately for the Titans, none of his 23 total touches resulted in a trip to the end zone.
What went wrong: Unhappy reunion for Ridley
Given the season-long performance of the Jacksonville defense, in particular its secondary, you could have made a strong case for former Jaguars wide receiver Calvin Ridley to put up huge numbers against his previous employer. In fact, it was suggested that the former first-round draft choice of the Atlanta Falcons was the Titans’ player to watch this past Sunday. That proved to be quite right, as well as quite wrong.
Both Ridley and Jaguars’ rookie wideout Bryan Thomas Jr. were targeted 12 times by quarterbacks Will Levis and Mac Jones, respectively. In the case of the former, he managed a team-high seven receptions, albeit for only 59 yards. Consider that just over half of that yardage total (30) came on a single catch, the math tells you that Ridley’s other six receptions went for a mere 29 yards. A bigtime disappointment.
What went wrong: Fourth-down flop
Utter frustration. The Titans owned a 3-0 lead in the second quarter when the team embarked on quite the march in the second quarter. It began at Tennessee’s eight-yard-line, and would end at the Jaguars’ two-yard-line. It last 15 plays, gained 90 yards, and ate up 8:14 of the clock. The final play was a Levis’ incompletion on fourth down to tight end Nick Vannett. In the fourth quarter, Callahan’s club was now down, 10-6, with 6:46 to play, and would have the ball two more times by game’s end.
An 11-play drive ended on the Jaguars’ nine-yard-line when Levis and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine failed to connect on 4th-and-3. Tennessee would get the ball back with 49 seconds to play on its own 30-yard line. Levis threw four consecutive incompletions, the last a failed connection with veteran wideout Tyler Boyd on 4th-and-15.
What went wrong: 15 minutes of hell
For the eighth time in 13 games, the league’s second-ranked defense in terms of total yards allowed limited an opponent to fewer than 300 yards in a game. Tennessee allowed a season-low 10 points. However, a closer look at the numbers shows that while the Titans appeared to have things in hand for most of the game, the final quarter proved to be the club’s undoing, at least when it comes to this side of the ball.
Tennessee allowed 30 yards rushing after 45 minutes of play, and 41 yards on the ground in the fourth quarter. They gave up only 188 total yards in the first three quarters combined, and 103 in the final quarter. That yardage figure came on only 16 plays, a disappointing 6.4 yards per play. Finally, after shutting out Jacksonville for better than three quarters, the Jaguars’ 10 points came in the final 12:09.
What went wrong: Offensive disaster
The Jaguars entered the game with the league’s worst defense in terms of total yards per game (406.4) and passing yards per game (273.3) allowed. Only two teams in the NFL had allowed more points per game (28.3), those being the Panthers and Bengals. Jacksonville had given up 39 offensive touchdowns in dozen outings, 24 of those through the air. Pederson’s team had only eight takeaways in 12 contests.
So, what on Earth happened? Tennessee managed only 272 yards of offense, the fewest any team managed to gain vs. the Jaguars this season. For the second time in four games, Pederson’s club did not allow a touchdown, but the Titans came up with only six points—a season-low for Callahan’s club and the fewest points given up by the Jaguars this season. A mystifying offense performance, to say the least.