Rapid reaction from the Tennessee Titans' 27-24 loss to the Cleveland Browns on a beautiful sunny afternoon at Nissan Stadium:
Talking points
- Here's the good news, Titans fans: The first-half offensive woes improved. The Titans scored touchdowns on their first two possessions to take a 14-0 lead. And they drove for a game-tying TD with 58 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Bad news was the rest of the game. After falling behind early, the Browns piled up 277 offensive yards in the first half alone, pulling ahead 17-14 at halftime. It was 17-17 when quarterback Deshaun Watson scored on a 9-yard run to cap a 71-yard drive to put the Browns ahead with 4:34 remaining. And it was 24-24 when the Browns kicked the winning field goal as time expired. Collectively, this just wasn't good enough for the Titans. Offensively, they couldn't sustain early success. Defensively, they couldn't protect an early lead or stop the Browns from pulling ahead twice in the fourth quarter.
- Have a day, Tony Pollard. The Titans' running back rolled for 129 rushing yards (87 of them in the opening quarter) on 25 carries. It was his second-best rushing performance as a Titans player. The best? At Cleveland last season, when he ran for 161 yards and 2 TDs in a victory over the Browns.
- Much of this game looked similar for Titans quarterback Cam Ward in terms of a passing offense still lacking explosiveness. However, Ward did lead an 11-play, 63-yard touchdown drive to tie the game late in the fourth quarter, finding Elic Ayomanor for a 26-yard catch on fourth down (making up for Ward missing a wide-open Daniel Bellinger with a deep ball on third down) and then Carnell Tate for an 18-yard completion on third-and-12.
- Cornerback Alontae Taylor was active for this game (unlike a week ago), but he remained behind Joshua Williams and Cor’Dale Flott in the pecking order. Marcus Harris also continued to be the first slot DB in the rotation. While Taylor began this season as a true cornerback, his struggles have led to a point where he might be playing more in the slot. That’s if he plays at all. Reminder: Taylor is one of the highest-paid players on the roster.
- If Tyjae Spears’ Titans days are indeed numbered, because he’s in the final year of his rookie contract, he’ll mostly be remembered for an aggravating inability to stay healthy. After being listed as questionable, Spears was inactive for this game with a knee issue. Meanwhile, the Titans’ run game started on fire, and Michael Carter was the second RB ahead of an absent Spears, Julius Chestnut and rookie Nick Singleton (who also was inactive for this game).
- Titans punter Tommy Townsend hurt his knee during the first half when he couldn’t land because a blocking Femi Oladejo was pushed into him. Kicker Joey Slye was forced into emergency punt duty (and he fared pretty well).
Where the game turned
I’ve got two, both from the second quarter:
1. After Pollard’s apparent third touchdown of the first half was overturned on replay, the Titans had second down from about a foot shy of the goal line and still couldn’t score. Ward had a sneak and a scramble come up short, and a leap by Pollard was halted on fourth down, keeping the score at 14-7 when it should’ve been 21-7.
2. And then, after Anthony Hill Jr. forced a fumble to get the ball back at the Browns’ 44, Ward promptly threw a ball behind Ayomanor that was picked off by Cleveland’s Denzel Ward. That interception resulted in a game-tying, 78-yard touchdown drive by the Browns.
Key number
491 — Total net yards for the Browns' offense, an average of 7.4 yards per play. The Titans had 322 yards.
What I Liked
To open this game, the Titans’ rushing attack looked as good as it had all season, with Pollard gashing the Browns’ defense for big gains and touchdowns of 36 and 10 yards.
However . . .
What I didn’t like
The offense still struggled to run the ball in short-yardage situations, and it's concerning that Pollard's big day still didn't unlock more downfield completions for Ward.
Plus, defensively, the Titans took a step back. Couldn’t help but notice how speedy Browns rookie KC Concepcion kept sprinting through the secondary while a high-priced DB like Taylor watched from the sideline.
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: A promising start for the Titans, but also the same old Titans | Estes
