Silver Linings from Titans’ Fourth Straight Loss

The Tennessee Titans have developed an unfortunate weekly expectation, especially since the early-season firing of second-year head coach Brian Callahan, that a loss is imminent. It’s the sort of thing that plagues only the worst teams in the NFL; franchises that have not only lost direction, but that have no clear pathway in place to find it once more.

At 1-8, Tennessee defines this broken state, and their latest game against the Los Angeles Chargers only further evidenced their conundrum.

In a 27-20 home loss – admittedly, one of the team’s closer games in recent memory – the Titans ultimately failed to keep pace with Justin Herbert and the Chargers offense, despite making remarkable progress in that direction in the game’s earliest trends.

Out mulitiple key players ahead of the trade deadline, the Titans’ “nearly there” performance looks that much more impressive given the team’s current state. Then again, with their aforementioned record being the reality, this isn’t exactly a point in the season in which fans can take solace in moral wins. Even so, if the franchise wants to build something positive in the future, a base is necessary to build such a future from.

The things that Tennessee did well against Los Angeles can be used as that launching point going forward.

On both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, the Titans saw big play breakthroughs from players waiting in the wings. First, while the aforementioned Herbert found himself backed up in Los Angeles territory, Tennessee linebacker Cody Barton jumped on a mistimed pass and took it back for the Titans’ first pick six of the entire season.

The score brought Tennessee a rare sense of momentum, and it wasn’t the only standout play of the day.

Rookie wideout and special teams sensation Chimere Dike, having already received conference player of the week honors for that latter ability, ran back a kick for a touchdown of his own. That’s two Tennessee scores driven by non-offensive plays.

Considering the team’s final 20-point tally, the discrepancy clearly lies in the inability of the team’s scoring unit to put points on the board.

As frustrating as that is for the franchise, having budding playmakers elsewhere is certainly a positive worth pointing to as just about everything else seems to go south. If nothing else, the team can hold onto moments like these until a new coach kicks down the doors and, hopefully, begins to right the ship for the long-term.

Make sure you bookmark Tennessee Titans on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!