The Tennessee Titans lost their first home game of the season 33-19 to the LA Rams.
When looking at Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, this really should not really have happened. Stafford has played the Titans four times previously and lost every single time.
Unfortunately, this was very much a game of two halves. We were leading at half-time following quarterback Cam Ward’s first touchdown as a Titan.
Ward had dropped back at least 10 yards – with two Rams players closing in on him – before launching a beauty of a throw across his body, and the field, right into the waiting arms of wide receiver Elic Ayomanor. It was a throw that definitely got Titans fans excited.
However, Ward showed his inexperience at this level with a fumble for the second game in a row. He completed 19 of 33 passes for 175 yards on the day, with a rating of 82.3.
Against other teams in the NFL, this could have been a winning performance. However, it just was not enough on the day.
Penalty problems and special team stars
Something that continues to be an issue for us on all sides of the ball is penalties. We are hoarding those things like a squirrel with its nuts.
While it was not as bad as last week, we did still commit 10 penalties for 62 yards. One of which so catastrophic – thank you Cedric Gray for that – it wiped a punt return touchdown from Chimere Dike off the board.
If not for the penalty, he would have had the first Titans punt return touchdown since Darius Reynaud did it back in 2012.
Titans’ special teams were the stars of the show on Sunday. They even blocked an extra point, the first blocked PAT since Week 6 of 2023 against the Baltimore Ravens. If handled cleaner, that could have resulted in an extra two points for the team.
On a day without key players such as tackles J.C. Latham and T’Vondre Sweat, the defense really needed to do better.
Linebacker Cody Barton had a nice interception but that was all we really saw from them. Credit where credit is due though; they did hold the Rams to field goals when they were in a first and goal position but it just was not enough in the end.
All of these little mistakes added up on the day to a home loss, something we really did not want. If this is when our losses will come though, early on in the season, then I will take it.
At this point, it is still recoverable and we can go on to finish well in the division, even if it is not at the top. Our next two games are crucial. Divisional match-ups need to be won if you want that advantage so we really need to step up. Quickly!
