The Tennessee Titans had their first road game of the season as they headed to Jacksonville to face the Jaguars who had come off of a loss to the Seahawks in their last matchup and despite getting a 21-0 lead, the Titans were able to battle back in this one and take the w in the game with a final score of 28-24.
Will Levis and the offense was off to a sluggish start in the beginning but when they found their grove, they were unstoppable. Will had gone 12-15 with 134 yds and 1 td-0 int, ending the game with a 126.1 QBR. He had played efficient and didn’t force the ball much, only throwing it when he knew his players could make the play over the defender. He took 1 sack but it was more from him getting tripped up on a lineman when he was breaking free for a big run.
The Rushing attack shines through
The main story of the comeback came from the rushing attack by the team, 5 different rushers ended the game with 5 or more ypc. The leading back was none other than Tony Pollard who had 15 carries for 149 yds and 1 td in the win, he had gotten two huge plays in this as well with one of them being on the final scoring drive by the Titans when they needed points.
With how exhausted Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears had gotten in the game, the team relied on the undrafted rookie DJ Giddens who had a great game with him going 8-40 but pounding the ball into the endzone twice in the game.
Tyjae Spears was solid with each of his carries, it seemed like he was due for a breakout rush on every carry he had, went 5-27 but he played a major part in how successful the run game could be with how he was on the field a bunch in the FB position getting great lead blocks for the other 2 RBs. Will Levis rushed once from the pocket which allowed the team to take a 2nd and 14 down to 3rd and 1 that the team was able to convert and eventually get a td with. Jha’Quan Jackson got his first attempt at getting the ball in the rushing attack since the injury with him going 10 yds and picking up a huge first down for the team.
Amari Cooper led the team in yds again with his 48 yds that he tallied on 2 recs. Chig was able to get a td in this one on his 3-46 stat line, his td was the spark that the team needed on offense that allowed them to get back into their groove. Treylon Burks had gone 3-28.
The Defense that turned up after some key mistakes early
The defense for the Titans was slow to start in the game and it really showed on two different huge plays by the Jags, Brian Thomas Jr. Had gone for 2 tds that was over 90 yds each, this was an embarrassment that had Coach Frozen livid at the secondary as a result of that blunder. With that talk that was conversed by the coach when they were down 21, the team came back with a vengeance and made it so the Jags were only able to score 3 points after that.
The spark that came from the defense was from yet another LB that has been dominant for this team. Kenneth Murray Jr. would jump in front of a pass from Trevor that allowed the team a quick breather from the high powered offense, although the offense didn’t score. This pick was the start of the team getting to believe again that they would come out with the dub.
Although the stat sheet won’t talk about it, the dline of the Titans was making a bunch of big plays in the win, they would get pressure onto Lawrence on multiple occasions and would make a lot of his throws incomplete with them giving a hit just before he could sling it. Didn’t tally any sacks and tfls but were just great altogether.
The Veteran that doesn’t know when to quit
In the offseason, Jimmie Ward wasn’t given any offers by any team to give him a chance to start and help mentor some of the young guys. The Titans who were needing some safety help had gave him a call and he instantly signed to join the team. This game he would carry the defense to the win with 2 huge picks to seal it. One that he received at the 2 yd line and the last in the end zone to seal the game.