Rapid reaction from the Tennessee Titans' dreary 26-3 loss to the Houston Texans on Oct. 11 at Nissan Stadium:
Talking points
- This will be the afternoon that any lingering hope vanished for another Titans season. Offensive ineptitude was the story of an ugly, listless defeat. But in this matchup of winless AFC South rivals, the Texans thoroughly outplayed the home team on both sides of the ball. Nothing here, really, for the Titans to feel good about. They regressed in this game, looking more like the team that got whipped in Week 1 by the Jets than the team that played the Eagles to the wire in Week 2. There were boos after the final whistle from fans who stayed until the end.
- Troubling performances keep piling up for Cam Ward, whose occasional flashes still aren’t enough to change the narrative of a young quarterback who isn’t up for the challenge of winning in the NFL. Ward led the Titans to a field goal on the opening drive. Then, however, the offense failed to get anything going until it was too late. The next six Titans possessions resulted in four punts, two turnovers and a whopping 55 yards while the Texans’ offense gradually took control of the game with field goals (before extending the lead with second-half touchdowns).
- As seems the case each season, injuries are again taking a bite out of the Titans’ secondary. For this game, depth was stretched thin at safety. Amani Hooker (concussion) was inactive, and Kevin Winston Jr. was sidelined early with a quad injury. That meant reserves Tony Adams, Terrell Burgess and Isaiah Oliver, who’d just been promoted from the practice squad, shared the work. Micah Robinson also subbed in during the second half for cornerback Cor’Dale Flott, who had a chest injury.
- Once it was clear that Ward had to throw to come back late in the game, the Texans were able to ramp up pressure on him. Will Anderson Jr. got three late sacks. Meanwhile, defensive end Danielle Hunter, working successfully against Titans left tackle Dan Moore Jr., blindsided Ward for a late sack after forcing an interception earlier in the game by affecting a throw that sailed directly to a Texans defender.
- To those wondering why the Texans were also 0-4 entering this game, note that they could’ve been up more than 12-3 at halftime, but they had six penalties in the opening half. One of those Texans penalties nullified a Woody Marks touchdown run.
Where the game turned
Despite the early turnovers, there was still hope for the Titans until the Texans took the opening kickoff of the second half and drove 74 yards on 17 plays, burning 8:23 minutes of game clock to score the game’s first touchdown. For the Titans, a third-quarter deficit of 19-3 might as well have been 119-3 with their struggles on offense.
Key number
1 – Total receptions for Carnell Tate. The Titans followed up the rookie receiver’s breakout performance in Baltimore with a whopping 6 receiving yards on five targets against Houston.
What I liked
TSU’s marching band performed at halftime. That was enjoyable.
What I didn’t like
The Titans are toeing the line of giving their young quarterback
ample opportunity to develop versus giving in and resorting to a more stable backup like Mitch Trubisky. While the correct move is probably to stick with Ward because another season has already turned hopeless, this offense isn’t getting any easier to watch on Sundays. At some point, Ward is going to have to justify the Titans’ faith for them to keep running him out there. Such a poor performance against a divisional rival doesn’t help.
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Houston Texans spank Tennessee Titans in matchup of winless teams | Estes
