INGLEWOOD, Calif. – One play, or call, stood out more than others in this one.
It took what was initially ruled a Titans touchdown off the scoreboard, and it halted potential momentum.
But it didn’t keep the Titans from making more plays in the game, and the lack of plays once again proved to be the team’s biggest downfall in a 27-17 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
With the loss, the Titans dropped to 2-7.
“Tip of the cap to them – they played well, they were the more physical team today,” Coach Brian Callahan said. “And, in a low possession game, we need to score touchdowns, and we didn’t (score enough). We gave up too many sacks …and had too many negatives plays in the second half.
“Guys played hard, we still kept fighting. But at the end of the day, we didn’t have enough complementary football, and we didn’t play well enough.”
Titans quarterback Will Levis returned to action after missing the previous three games with a right shoulder injury, and he completed 18-of-23 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns, but he was sacked seven times.
“I’m going to look at myself and what I could have done better,” Levis said. “In the second half, personally for me, there were a couple of situations where I could have gotten the ball out earlier and helped the line with pressure. … I have to continue to learn in that area.”
Receiver Calvin Ridley caught five passes for 84 yards and two touchdowns in the game.
The Titans were outgained just 309 to 289 in total yards, but they hurt themselves with nine penalties for 68 yards. And, they didn’t register one quarterback sack of their own.
“We’re just not consistent enough,” Ridley said. “It’s been the same thing all year. It’s the way the things have been going. We have to be more consistent to win games.”
After a nice start on Sunday, the Titans couldn’t finish.
The Chargers took a 3-0 lead on a 21-yard field goal by kicker Cameron Dicker.
But the Titans quickly answered back, scoring on a 42-yard touchdown strike from Levis to Ridley, which capped a seven-play, 72-yard drive on the team’s opening possession.
After a long Chargers drive, the Titans defense stiffened up again the second quarter, holding the Chargers to another field goal, this one from 37 yards out by Dicker, to make it 7-6.
The Titans had a chance to extend their lead in the second quarter, but a missed field goal from 49 yards out by Nick Folk kept the score at 7-6 with 6:19 left in the quarter.
The Chargers then took a 13-7 lead on a four-yard touchdown run by quarterback Justin Herbert, who scrambled for the score on a fourth-and-one play.
Then, the biggest play of the game took place in the closing seconds of the first half.
That’s when Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons hit Herbert just as he was throwing the football. The ball was knocked out of Herbert’s right hand, and it went forward, where Titans cornerback Roger McCreary picked it up and returned it for an apparent touchdown. Officials, in fact, ruled it a touchdown on the field, making it 13-13, pending the PAT.
“I felt like it was a fumble,” McCreary said. “Everybody was excited. We thought it was a touchdown.”
But after replay, the call was overturned, and it was ruled an incomplete pass.
Heading into halftime, Callahan let officials hear about it on the way off the field.
“I thought it was going to stand on the field,” Callahan said. “They initially told me it was going to stand, and then they took another look at it as I walked away. And then as I came back, they told me it was going to be overturned. And that was all the explanation that I got.
“I’ll let you guys decide what you think the call should’ve been. I don’t want to lose any money.”
On their opening drive of the second half, the Titans cut the lead to 13-10 on a 27-yard field goal by Folk, which capped an 11-play, 62-yard drive.
But after allowing a 56-yard kickoff return, the Chargers stretched the lead to 20-10 on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Herbert to Quentin Johnson, which capped off a short 43-yard drive.
It seemed to be a deflating turn of events.
The Chargers then made it 27-10 on a one-yard touchdown run by Hassan Haskins in the fourth quarter.
Levis connected with Ridley for another touchdown, from 15 yards, with just 49 seconds left to make it 27-17.
But it was too little, too late.
“This is the NFL, and my message to the guys is: Say less, and do more’,” Simmons said. “We have to stop talking, including myself, and we have to say less and do more.”
The Titans return to action next Sunday against the Vikings at Nissan Stadium.
Source: Tennesseetitans.com
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