INDIANAPOLIS – Ryan Tannehill was sacked just once. What a relief, right? The Colts hit him eight times Sunday afternoon but the pass pressure that has been the root of so many Titans’ problems so far this season didn’t dictate things.
The interview podium at Lucas Oil Stadium is probably the highest in the NFL – we look up our subject’s nostrils while they talk. But Tannehill didn’t have to dread the climb up there after this one, there was no beating.
Yet solving their top issue didn’t pave the way for the Titans to find points and win in their first AFC South game of the season. It simply gave them a chance to show off a number of other ugly issues in a 23-16 loss.
Hey, we can block their front, but look over here, where we completed three of six passes for 13 yards in the red zone. And watch Derrick Henry get stuffed on a massive fourth-and-1 from the Colts’ 5-yard line with 8:03 left in the game and a chance to pull ahead 23-20. Over here we’ve got the run defense we consider a key to our ID giving up 193 yards on 34 carries, highlighted by 7.2 a carry for Zack Moss. And let’s not forget once-promising second-rounder Kristian Fulton, who’s supposed to be our best corner. He allowed a 38-yard pass to Josh Downs on a third-and-16 in the second quarter and committed 22- and 16-yard pass interference penalties as well.
The Titans are 2-3 and they can’t win on the road where they’ve now scored one touchdown and are averaging 11.3 points a game.