NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — For the second straight day, the state’s diehard football fans sat on the edge of their seat, heart in their throat, sweating out a defensive stand to end the game. And much like Tennessee Vol fans, euphoric over snapping the losing skid against Florida, Titans fans won’t apologize for the late-game aesthetics of the team’s first win of the season.
The Titans did not score in the second half against the Raiders and they were outgained 396-361, giving up 300 yards passing to Derek Carr and company, but the defense made the plays that it had to, preserving a desperate 24-22 victory.
Dylan Cole got his hands on Carr’s two-point conversion pass with 1:14 to go and Kevin Byard knocked it harmlessly to the ground. Austin Hooper recovered the onside kick and the Titans kneeled out a win they absolutely had to have after the franchise’s first 0-2 start to a season in 10 years.
The offense started with the level of urgency you would hope to see from a team that was the No. 1 seed in the AFC a year ago, but had mustered just three touchdowns through the first two weeks. After winning the coin toss, the Titans elected to take the ball and Todd Downing dialed up a screen pass to Derrick Henry, who ran for just 107 yards the first two weeks, breaking him free for a 23-yard gain that was his best touch of the season up to that point.
The Titans took off more than half of the first quarter clock on a 12 play, 75-yard opening drive that was the type of ball control, efficient offense this team is going to have to play with an inexperienced offensive line now without Taylor Lewan for the rest of the season.
The offense scored on its first three possessions Sunday, following up the opening march with drives of 75- and 79-yards to match its touchdown total for the season. A nice Robert Woods punt return, a pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and a 48-yard field goal by Randy Bullock as the first half expired gave the Titans a season-high 24 points in the first half.
The offense was unable to keep it going in the second half, but the defense helped the Titans hold on for dear life. After giving up 10 points on the Raiders' first two drives, the D buckled down to force three punts, a field goal and grab an interception on the next five possessions. Vegas was just 1-12 on third downs and just 2-6 in the red zone.
The Titans defense buckled, but did not break. Even on the final drive, they allowed a 48-yard pass to Mack Hollins on fourth and 15, then committed a holding penalty on a second fourth down. That set up fourth and goal from the nine in which Carr hit Hollins again for a touchdown, capping his career-best eight catch, 158-yard day, to pull the Raiders within two.
But Cole and Byard, who had an earlier interception in the end zone on a pass that caromed off of Darren Waller’s hands, made sure this pass never got to the big tight end.
Just like the Vols on Saturday there is no need to harp on the things that went wrong late or how the game could’ve gone the other way. The Titans made the plays they had to in order to get a big win. But unlike a Vols team clearly on the rise, now into the top 10, the Titans have clear issues through three weeks of the season.
The offense is yet to put together a complete game behind an offensive line that, while better Sunday, continues to fall short of the standard set by recent lines here. Todd Downing and the offensive staff found a way to get Henry going Sunday. He had a season-high 25 touches for 143 yards; a season-high 85 on the ground and 58 more on a career-best five receptions. But Henry, like the rest of the offense, was less effective after halftime.
Can the staff continue to scheme the offense to success? And will that be able to carry over deep into ballgames or late into the season?
And then there’s the defense that was supposed to be one of the league’s top units entering the season. Through three weeks, they have been diced up in pass coverage, struggled to stop the run and haven’t been able to consistently affect opposing quarterbacks since five sacks in the first half of week one against the Giants.
Injuries have depleted the pass rush, which played Sunday without Bud Dupree as well as Harold Landry who was lost in the preseason to a torn ACL. Injuries have also played a role in the secondary, where Kristian Fulton returned Sunday but Caleb Farley, who was drafted in the first round of 2021 to be a lock down cornerback for this team, stood mostly on the sideline, passed over by Terrance Marshall who was signed to the team just this week.
The Titans need to find some answers for their problems, and quickly. They have their first AFC South division game Sunday at Indianapolis and will see the Colts again on October 23 in Nashville. Indy looked better Sunday with a final-minute win at home against the Chiefs. Meanwhile, Jacksonville won its second straight game in dominant fashion over the Chargers in Los Angeles.
If the Titans are going to win a third straight division title they will have to contend with both, and that will likely take better efforts than anything we’ve seen from them so far through two weeks. But Sunday was a positive first step that allowed this team to feel good about itself again.
After all, a win is a win.
