DETROIT — After the trades of two starters during the week the Titans came to Ford Field Sunday looking to prove their season is not over.
Instead, they laid out the blueprint for what not to do against one of the NFL's best teams in a 52-14 beatdown at the hands of the Lions.
Beating the now 6-1 leaders of the NFC North would have been tough enough on its own but Tennessee gave up big plays, gifted Detroit four turnovers and melted down on special teams in an embarrassing performance that goes down as the fourth worth loss in the Titans era.
"That's how the game gets away from you against a good football team," Titans coach Brian Callahan said. "You give up a punt return for a touchdown, you give up a long kickoff to give the defense another short field, and ultimately you turn the ball over four times. At some point we're going to stop doing that and we'll be able to play a competitive football game, but until then that's what they look like."
Mason Rudolph made his second straight start in place of the injured Will Levis. He threw for 266 yards and had both a touchdown rushing and passing as the Titans matched the Lions early in a 14-14 game.
But Detroit matched each Tennessee score immediately. First, with a Jahmyr Gibbs 70-yard touchdown run off the left side of the Lions offensive line on the first play of a drive, then with a three-play, 25-yard touchdown drive that was set up by a 72-yard Khalil Dorsey kickoff return.
Jared Goff, who had just 85 yards passing, hit Brock Wright for an eight-yard touchdown and a 21-14 lead. The Lions never looked back.
Kerby Joseph jumped an over route on the very next play from scrimmage, intercepting Rudolph's pass intended for Chig Okonkwo and returning it to the Tennessee 12. Three plays later Goff hit a wide-open Amon-Ra St. Brown for a one-yard TD and the route was on.
"Unfortunately it's the same story of giving them some easy ones," Rudolph said. "Once again putting our defense on a short field. I've got to protect the ball better."
The Titans turned it over four times in all, including fumbles by Calvin Ridley and Okonkwo, leading directly to 21 Detroit points.
The Lions took advantage of an extremely short field, posting five touchdown drives of 26 yards or fewer to pour it on despite being outgained 416-225 on the afternoon.
"It's tough," outside linebacker Arden Key said. "Detroit's offense only had 130-something yards in the first half. It's just frustrating because every week it's something different. We've got to figure it out and get it fixed."
Tennessee's season long special teams' woes continued. Detroit posted an almost inconceivable 262 return yards against Colt Anderson's beleaguered unit, raising questions about whether the first-year special teams coordinator will hold that position much longer.
In addition to Dorsey's kickoff return, former Titan Kalif Raymond shredded Tennessee's coverage on two different punt returns. His 64-yard return late in the first half set up a 22-yard drive that was capped by a David Montgomery halfback pass to Sam LaPorta. He then had a 90-yard punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter.
"We don't get down and cover," Callahan said. "We missed tackles today. We've been devoting resources to protect because that wasn't good enough early. We've protected and settled down but then we haven't covered very well. There's blame to go around both schematically and in performance."
It was the first of two third quarter touchdowns for Raymond, who also hauled in a a seven-yard pass from Goff to make it 49-14.
A week after being outscored 27-0 in the second half of a 34-10 loss in Buffalo, Tennessee surrendered the final 38 points to Detroit en route to a third straight defeat that may have pushed a season on the brink over the edge.
No team has started a season 1-6 and made the playoffs.
And the big picture hope of a turnaround under Callahan and his first-year coaching staff is also fading as the close early season losses have given way to blowouts.
"We fight, our team plays hard," Callahan said. "But we've got to do a lot of things a lot better. Right now it's not a product that people are excited to watch and that's just the way it is. We've got to do something about that."
