NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — All season long the Titans have been looking for someone to make a play. A momentum-changing moment that could swing the tide in the one of the numerous tight games that they’ve come out on the short end of the stick.
At Sofi Stadium Sunday it looked like that big play had finally arrived eight games and a nearly one full half into the season, but the ensuing replay review erased a touchdown and completely swung momentum. The Chargers never trailed again and dropped the Titans to 2-7 with a 27-17 defeat.
With Los Angeles looking to add to its 13-7 lead with under 2:00 to play in the first half, Tennessee all-pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons slipped past the offensive guard attempting to block him and rocked Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert just as he was attempting to throw. The ball came loose, caromed off a Los Angeles receiver and was then scooped up off the turf by Roger McCreary who raced 20 yards for a touchdown.
The crowd was stunned, the Titans were jubilant and appeared poised to take a 14-13 lead with the extra point heading into halftime. That’s when the call came from the NFL replay office in New York. They wanted a longer look at the play, which they are entitled to do on any scoring play.
The league replay officials used enhanced video, going frame by frame, to determine – apparently conclusively -- that Herbert maintained control of the ball until his arm began to move forward. The call was overturned to an incomplete pass much to the dismay of Titans coach Brian Callahan and the entire Tennessee sideline.
“I thought it was going to stand on the field,” Callahan said after the game. “They initially told me it was going to stand as they got another look at it as I walked away and then I came back and they told me it was going to be overturned. And that was all the explanation I got. I’ll let you guys decide what you think the call should’ve been, but I don’t want to lose any money.”
The replay reversal took at least six points off the scoreboard and completely swung momentum from the Titans back to the Chargers.
“Yeah, it was a critical momentum swing at the end of the half,” Callahan said. “To score a touchdown on defense – we haven’t done that all year long – and to get a chance to put six on the board on defense right before the half on a mistake that they made was huge. We were getting the ball back. Yeah, it was a huge momentum turning play. I feel like we’ve had a lot of those this year that haven’t gone our way, and that’s sort of what happens when you’re not playing well enough. All the plays that you make seem critical, and when they’re taken away they hurt.
The Titans still got the ball to begin the second half with a chance to take the lead with a touchdown, but for the second time in the game stalled out in the red zone and had to settle for a Nick Folk chip shot field goal to make it 13-10.
The Titans have now scored touchdowns on just half of their 28 red zone trips this season, a big reason they’ve only topped 17 points.
Even worse has been the Titans special teams, particularly the coverage units that have allowed big returns from the Bears, Packers, Lions, Patriots. With the Titans back within a score after the Folk field goal it was the kickoff unit which took its turn letting Tennessee down.
Derius Davis took the kick from his goalline and raced left towards the sideline and then upfield for 56 yards before he was finally pushed out of bounds at the Tennessee 44.
Seven plays later Herbert hit Quentin Johnston for a 16-yard touchdown and the Chargers had a two score lead.
After a Titans punt, Herbert and the Chargers drove 95 yards on their next possession to put the game away on former Titan Hassan Haskins’ one-yard leap over the top of the goal-line pile.
“We didn’t complement each other well enough,” Callahan said. “You have to score touchdowns in the red zone in a game like this where you knew that possessions would be limited. We get points on the board, kick the ball back off, give up a big return, they punch the ball in and score seven. We get the ball back and have to punt the ball. So we punt it and we pin them down on the five-yard line. Great coverage, great rush, all the things that we want and we have them at the five yard line and they go 95 yards for a touchdown and ultimately that was the game. We didn’t bow up at any point. Didn’t play well enough in any phase to win the game.”
And that’s the story about this Titans team. They simply aren’t good enough to overcome the critical mistakes or big swings when they go against them.
Will Levis returned to play for the first time in four weeks and showed no signs of rust after dealing with a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder. He completed 18 of his 23 passes for 175 yards, including two touchdowns to Calvin Ridley who continues to come on in the middle part of the season.
Tyjae Spears also returned to the offense and combined with Tony Pollard to run for 91 yards on just 16 carries, but the Titans also allowed seven sacks and had nine more penalties which combined to derail multiple possessions.
Meanwhile, a physical Chargers team showed that it is much further along in year one under Jim Harbaugh than the Titans are under the Callahan regime.
Right now for the Titans to win they have to limit the mistakes, find a way to win the turnover battle and they can’t afford to have any breaks go against them.
Sunday in Los Angeles they were dealt an unlucky hand by the replay officials just before halftime. But it was the missed opportunities and mistakes after halftime that they couldn’t overcome.
