The Tennessee Titans’ five-game winning streak was snapped in Week 9 after they fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime at Arrowhead Stadium, 20-17.
Outside of the second quarter, it was much of the same for the Titans on Sunday night.
The defense played out of its mind and kept the team in the game while the offense failed to get anything going. That failure also led to Tennessee’s defense being on the field for far too long.
In fact, the Titans lost time of possession by over 15 minutes, and Tennessee’s defense was on the field for 41 minutes and 91 snaps.
No wonder this unit was gassed down the stretch.
While there’s a lot of blame to go around on the Titans’ offense, there were a few bright spots during the game. And, as is usually the case, the defense came out smelling like a rose for the most part.
Let’s see who qualified as a “winner” or “loser” after Sunday night.
Winner: QB Malik Willis
Yes, the box score is ugly, and yes, he didn’t do anything in the second half, but I’d be lying if I said there weren’t things to be encouraged by with quarterback Malik Willis.
Willis showed much better ball placement than he did in his first start in Week 8. He threw a beautiful back-shoulder pass to tight end Austin Hooper, and could’ve had two more game-changing deep completions if not for drops.
Adding to that, Willis showed what he could do with his legs, which right now are his best asset as he continues to grow as a passer. Sadly, offensive coordinator Todd Downing got away from the designed runs in the second half, and no surprise the offense stalled after that.
The Liberty product still needs more work, and Ryan Tannehill still gives this team the best chance to win, but the rookie’s struggles were more about the failures around him than anything else.
Overall, there were definite strides made on Sunday night.
Loser: Titans' WRs
Not a single Titans wide receiver caught a pass in Week 9, marking just the fourth time since 2000 that an NFL team has gone through an entire game without a receiver catching a pass.
Titans haven't completed a pass to wide receiver all game. Only teams since 2000 w/out a completion to a WR:
Patriots in wind game at Bills 12/6/21
Broncos in Kendall Hinton game vs Saints 11/29/20
Texans w/ David Carr at QB vs Steelers 12/8/02— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) November 7, 2022
Adding insult to injury, there were some huge drops along the way.
Chris Conley’s was the most egregious, with the wide receiver dropping a beautifully placed deep ball down the sideline. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine also dropped one he should’ve caught, but the level of difficulty was far greater.
Both of those drops proved to be huge, as the Titans might have put points on the board otherwise, which would’ve put them over the top against the Chiefs.
Winner: Titans' defense
Allowing Patrick Mahomes to rip off some big runs was definitely a blemish for the defense on Sunday night, but it’s impossible to get too worked up about that given how well the unit played overall.
Tennessee’s front was putting pressure on Mahomes for much of the evening, and the secondary provided excellent coverage and was responsible for a few sacks, as well as an interception, which was recorded by Roger McCreary.
However, this unit simply got gassed as the game progressed with the Titans’ offense unable to get anything going or sustain drives in the second half. In all, Tennessee’s defense was on the field for a whopping 41 minutes and 91 plays.
At the end of the day, this unit did prove that it can keep the Titans in any game against any team. If only the offense had a pulse…
Loser: OC Todd Downing
Downing’s play-calling in the second quarter was exactly what the doctor ordered, as the Titans were utilizing Malik Willis’ legs with some designed runs, which worked in perfect tandem with Derrick Henry.
Unfortunately, that stopped in the second half, and no surprise that was when Tennessee’s offense stalled.
Of course, you can’t blame the aforementioned drops on Downing, both of which would’ve changed the complexion of this game, but the embattled offensive coordinator didn’t make things any easier for his offense.
Winner: DL Denico Autry
Autry notched two sacked and three QB hits on Sunday night. With the pair, Autry now has seven on the season, the most on the team.
Loser: Officials
Where do we even begin? There were so many bad calls and missed calls in this game that I lost count. The two-point conversion attempt late in the fourth quarter was the most egregious.
Joshua Kalu was mauled by Travis Kelce, yet he was flagged for a penalty himself, giving the Chiefs another crack at it. Kelce also should’ve been flagged earlier in the game for removing his helmet, but was not.
Was this offense pass interference on Chiefs Travis Kelce against Titans? #sundaynightfootball #refssuck pic.twitter.com/3P0Jxikj7S
— Jeff Pierce (@JPDC4L) November 7, 2022
Also on the two-point conversion tries, Teair Tart was held on back-to-back plays but the Chiefs’ offensive line got away with it, a trend that was prevalent for much of the night.
We can also point to a horrid block in the back called on Cody Hollister, as well as a pass interference that should’ve been called on a pass to Austin Hooper.
I’m definitely missing some other questionable calls and non-calls, but you get the idea: the officials stunk on Sunday night.
Winner: CB Kristian Fulton
With the Titans desperately needing their secondary to step up on Sunday night, Fulton answered the bell with a pair of pass break-ups and sticky coverage overall. He also added four tackles.
Winner: Titans' TEs
While Tennessee’s receivers were nowhere to be found in this game, at least the tight ends made some plays to help their quarterback out.
On the first play of the game, Chig ran over several Chiefs defenders and took a screen 48 yards. Unfortunately, the Titans didn’t turn it into points, and Chig was never heard from again after that. He still led the team in receiving yards, though.
Austin Hooper was second on the team with 34 receiving yards, and both of his catches came on Titans touchdown drives. One of them was a great back-shoulder throw from Willis that Hooper was able to reel in.
Winner: RB Derrick Henry
Henry was the main source of offense for the Titans during their impressive second quarter. His gains of 24 and 56 yards both helped setup touchdown drives that he completed, which put him in sole possession of first place on Tennessee’s all-time rushing touchdowns list. He also crossed the century mark for the fifth-straight contest.
However, after tallying 92 rushing yards in the first half, Henry was shut down in the second, gaining just 23 the rest of the way. That isn’t his fault, though.
