Yet again, the Tennessee Titans heard boos while playing on a Sunday.
Only this time, those boos weren’t for them.
Indianapolis Colts fans, understandably, sounded none too pleased to witness a 26-20 defeat to the (no longer) winless Titans at Lucas Oil Stadium. Blowing a 13-0 lead in a game in which they doubled up the opponent in total yards, that said more about the Colts than it did the Titans, who made enough plays to pull this off despite their own persistent problems.
Winning is a lot better than losing, though, especially for a Titans franchise that has done it only seven times in the past 40 games. If you think that stat is bad, how about this: The Titans haven’t won back-to-back regular-season games since Nov. 17, 2022.
The past two seasons,
the Titans have handled glimmers of success like they’ve handled steady adversity: Terribly.
After winning, they’ve lost the next one by an average margin of 12 points.
I do not bring that up to be a downer. I bring it up to warn these Titans. Even in the giddy excitement of a slump finally ended, they should not confuse a small step with some larger breakthrough.
This Titans victory, while as satisfying as a buffet to a starving person, carried a lot of “buts” with it:
You could say, as Jeffery Simmons told reporters in Indy, that the Titans “dominated the line of scrimmage,” which was backed up by a 6-0 edge in sacks.
But . . . the Colts still were 7 of 15 on third down, had a 17-minute edge in possession time and got 94 rushing yards from Jonathan Taylor, who was nearly unstoppable during a late, game-tying touchdown drive.
You could say the Titans’ offense, despite another slow start, played clutch enough to win this game by scoring on each of its five possessions in the second half.
But . . . quarterback Cam Ward’s 102 passing yards were his lowest total in any regular-season NFL game that he started and stayed healthy enough to finish.
You could say that receiver Carnell Tate is coming along nicely in his rookie season, given his impressive afternoon with six catches and a touchdown.
But . . . Only three of his teammates caught a pass in this game. Outside of Tate, the rest of the Titans combined to produce five catches for a paltry 32 yards.
You could say the Titans’ special teams won this game, thanks to a punt return by Chimere Dike and a blocked punt, huge plays that each led directly to late touchdowns.
But . . . penalties are still a problem on special teams. Truman Jones ran into the Colts’ punter to gift wrap a first down. And after the Colts tied it late, a holding penalty by Isaiah Oliver nullified a long kickoff return by Dike, costing the offense at least 30 yards of possession. The Titans were lucky to draw a pass-interference penalty that got those yards back, allowing them to drive far enough for a go-ahead field goal.
And you could say, without being untruthful, that these Titans are a few plays from being 3-3, which would indicate that collectively, they are better than their past two dreadful seasons.
But . . . they aren’t that much better. Yardage-wise, the Titans are being outgained by opponents to the tune of 107 yards a game, and the biggest gap in any of the six games was this game. The Colts lost despite totaling 399 yards to the Titans’ 186. That should never happen in the NFL.
I’m not going to say this victory was as fluky as last season’s how-did-that-happen comeback in Arizona, but it did feel similar. The Colts helped the Titans, whose offense remains unable to kick its nasty habit of waiting one full half (or more) before showing up. That leaves a small margin of error for the Titans’ defense and special teams, demanding heroic efforts from each phase to close the gap enough to allow this team a chance to win.
This time, that did happen.
Can’t count on it happening next time.
The Titans can celebrate, for once. Theirs won’t be an 0-17 season. They still have a long, long way to go, however, before resembling a team that can expect to win. Recent Titans teams — losing teams — have forgotten that, getting drunk when offered a brief sip of victory. Perhaps this one will not.
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: Can Tennessee Titans handle a surprising sip of success without getting drunk? | Estes
