The Tennessee Titans came into today's game knowing they'd probably need a couple breaks to win in Seattle against the Seahawks. They got one big one, with a botched field goal attempt hold at the end of the first half resulting in a TD and a 10-point swing, and had their chances, as the Seahawks put the ball on the ground four other times, but Seattle did just enough, with a TD on fourth-and-goal in the second quarter, a go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter after Zach Brown just missed a golden return of a long fumble return score, and a clinching fourth quarter score after Richard Sherman outdueled Nate Washington for a jump ball interception of Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Titans would get a field goal to cut the deficit to 20-13, but the one additional defensive stop needed for a chance at a tie never came.
Offensively, the Titans lived up to the ineptitude I expected from them, with those 6 offensive points. They couldn't run the ball, as CJ picked up 12 carries for 33 yards despite some decent-looking carries where he didn't go down immediately on first contact with a defender. Fitzpatrick had effective work on scrambles, Kendall Wright looked good early, and it all still adds up to 223 yards of offense, only one red zone trip, only one play (Bironas's second FGA) inside the Seattle 10, and 6 points on offense.
Defensively, eh. Once again the defense played well enough to win, but not well enough to win on their own. You can point to individual failures-the one more stop needed on fourth and goal, the blown coverage that resulted in a 55-yard gain to Marshawn Lynch on a backside wheel route that set up the go-ahead field goal, and Marshawn Lynch's inconsistently effective running, notably on the last two drives in the fourth quarter. Really, Seattle's offense seemed to struggle to move the ball with consistent success. Russell Wilson completed most of his passes, but the passing game outside of a couple plays wasn't what hurt them-his scrambling and some timely failures did. A good performance, I think, but they needed a great one.
And so the Titans are 3-3 after being 3-1, with the San Francisco 49ers, yet another team with a strong defense and an offense that is not build around an efficient passing game, coming to LP Field next week. Good luck, Ruston Webster, Mike Munchak, and Dowell Loggains, the offense you spent all the money to improve in the offseason isn't doing its job and it's costing the team wins.
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