The Tennessee Titans are officially on their much-needed bye week after falling in Foxborough to the New England Patriots on Sunday, 36-13.
With wideouts Julio Jones, A.J. Brown, and Marcus Johnson all on Injured Reserve, quarterback Ryan Tannehill turned in another subpar outing after throwing a career-high four interceptions against Houston last week.
But the duo of D’Onta Foreman and Dontrell Hilliard put up the best rushing performance of the season.
The duo accounted for 240 rushing yards, with Hilliard rushing for 131 on just 12 carries. The undrafted free agent out of Tulane gained a big chunk of those yards on a 68-yard touchdown run with under a minute to play in the first half.
“O-line did a wonderful job of moving guys around [and] creating those lanes for me to get through, I commend them for that, for sure,” he said. “And when I [saw the opening], I just hit it.”
From Tulane to the Tennessee Titans! @D_Hilliard26
: Watch #TENvsNE on @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/RzRDWUMHgE
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) November 28, 2021
The play itself was pivotal in terms of keeping the Titans in the ballgame. Trailing by 10 points and with New England set to receive the second-half kickoff, Hilliard’s long run gave Tennessee a lot of confidence heading into the locker room.
Unfortunately, the Titans’ offense was shut out in the final two quarters, as mistakes were again the theme of the day.
Tennessee had three penalties called within the first five minutes of the first quarter, followed by kicker Randy Bullock hitting the upright on an extra point and 44-yard field goal attempts.
Before his long touchdown run, Hilliard fumbled inside the New England 35-yard line, which the Patriots converted into three points. And, on the Titans’ first possession of the second half, Foreman fumbled after ripping off a 30-yard run.
The two fumbles were part of the Titans’ four turnovers on the day, coming on the heels of a five-turnover performance against the Texans last week.
“It’s motivation is how we’re gonna look at it from this point, just focusing on the things that we’ve done wrong,” Hilliard concluded. “We look at the “L” as a lesson, so just gonna focus on the things that we didn’t get right and try to focus on those things and get better at it.”
As noted, the Titans are off this week, with Julio Jones eligible to return from IR when the team resumes play against the Jaguars in Week 14.
At least for the time being, the Titans can feel good about their running backs heading into the bye after struggling to replicate Derrick Henry’s dominance during the first three games of his absence.