A two-game losing streak, an injury report a mile long — the Titans needed something to go their way. Thankfully for them, a bye week followed by a date with the 2-10 Jaguars was next on the schedule.
An obvious get-right spot for Tennessee turned out to be just that.
An easy opening drive had the Titans out to a quick 7-0 lead. It was a ten-play drive for Todd Downing’s unit, heavily leaning on D’Onta Foreman as the lead back. Foreman capped off the drive with a five yard run in between the tackles, punching through for the score.
The Tennessee defense, which is still missing several key pieces, was the story of the first half and really the entire day. Constant pressure on Trevor Lawrence made life miserable on the rookie quarterback as the Titans pitched a first half shutout.
The Titans weren’t able to do much more offensively in the half, but were able to get into field goal range twice. Randy Bullock connected on one of those attempts, which gave Tennessee a 10-0 advantage.
Julio Jones made some early noise in his return game from IR, catching three early passes for 29 yards to give the team another much-needed offensive threat with Derrick Henry and A.J. Brown on the shelf.
Jacksonville opened the second half with a turnover. Laviska Shenault dropped the pass and Rashaan Evans caught the deflection for the interception. However, the Titans failed to do anything with it, and didn’t press the issue when faced with a 4th and 2 at midfield.
This game felt like it was going to come down to whether or not Lawrence could find any rhythm. Downing called a very conservative game offensively, which ended up working out this afternoon. Tennessee left the door cracked open all the way until the end of the third quarter.
A Geoff Swaim screen pass finally woke up the Tennessee offense once again, and a Jacksonville personal foul added 15 more. Ryan Tannehill was able to end the drive with a touchdown run, scrambling his way to the pylon to give the Titans a 17-0 lead.
Considering how Jacksonville was playing offensively, that was all Tennessee needed on this day.
Jayon Brown, Buster Skrine and Kristian Fulton added interceptions in the second half, making a bad day even worse for Lawrence. The No. 1 pick was clearly pressing in the second half, and it ended with a career high four interceptions.
Urban Meyer’s team was absolutely dreadful today, giving the Titans a needed easy day at the office.
Final Score: Titans 20, Jaguars 0.
The Titans improve to 9-4 on the year, still very much in the thick of the battle for the top overall seed in the AFC playoff picture. They have a trip to Pittsburgh up next, before coming back home to face the 49ers after that.
Leave a Reply