Titans play strong for 40 minutes, lose 27-24 to Steelers

With four minutes to play in the third quarter, Zach Mettenberger found Chase Coffman for a 24-13 lead, and the Titans seemed to be in control of the game. Mettenberger had 241 yards passing and had hardly been bothered by Dick LeBeau’s defense after opening the game with a pick-6, finding time in the pocket to throw thanks to very good protection and a plethora of open receivers. On the other side of the ball, the Steelers were struggling badly against Ray Horton’s pressure and probably the most energetic defensive performance the Titans have had all season. Then, it all fell apart.

The primary change agent was the Pittsburgh offense. After missing a couple touchdown passes in the first half because he got the ball out late, and taking more sacks and hits, Ben Roethlisberger started getting the ball out on time. A secondary that had been covering well was suddenly exploited (and found itself without Blidi Wreh-Wilson, who was disruptive in the first half, with a recurrence of the back injury that had him listed as questionable). At least as important, the Steelers started relying more on the ground game and Le’Veon Bell in particular. Bell had been productive in spurts in the first half, including on the opening field goal drive. Five carries and 52 yards for him later, the lead was just 24-20 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Mettenberger throws behind Kendall Wright on third-and-6, three-and-out for Tennessee. Three more Bell carries for 20 yards, four Roethlisberger completions, including Antonio Brown’s ninth catch of the game, and Pittsburgh had a 27-24 lead. Pressure from the Steelers on third down, a completion to Derek Hagan well short of the sticks, and Ken Whisenhunt trusted his defense and punted on fourth-and-4 from the Pittsburgh 48 with 7:06 to play. It would prove to be a mistake, as Bell would carry five more times for 50 yards and the Titans would not see the ball again.

A terribly frustrating loss, but not a terribly surprising one. Other points to note:

  • The Titans sustained no offense during the game. They had nine possession, and had three or fewer plays on five of them. In one case, that was good, an 80-yard touchdown pass from Mettenberger to Nate Washington, who got ridiculously open on a double move. The other four times, it was bad. The Titans only ran 39 official plays tonight, their fewest since the Week 17 2008 “who cares” fest in Indianapolis and the fewest by any team in the NFL since 2011.
  • Bishop Sankey had a nice 9-yard score, but he still finished 11-38. It’s hard to win in the NFL when your back consistently averages 3.5 yards per carry. Sankey’s yards per carry starting with the Jaguars game: 3.4, 3.5, 3.9, 3.4, and now 3.5.
  • I mentioned this on Twitter, but Richard Gordon made a heck of a play on Sankey’s score, getting first the reach block on the outside run, then working off the double team to get the corner. If he doesn’t make both plays, Sankey loses yardage.
  • The optimist in me (yes, there is one) says Brian Schwenke could be an acceptable center with a really good offseason next year, preferably one that does not include ankle surgery that leaves him unable to work normally.
  • Justin Hunter slipped on his break on Mettenberger’s pick-6. That needs to stop happening. Here’s betting it won’t.
  • Roethlisberger went down five times on 38 dropbacks, including to Avery Williamson on back-to-back plays. The first time he beat Heath Miller, the second time he came completely untouched. All five sacks came from the linebackers, with Quentin Groves (who seemed to get a lot more work than normal) and Shaun Phillips each getting one and Derrick Morgan and Wesley Woodyard each had 0.5.
  • Jurrell Casey had three solo tackles and an assist on Pittsburgh’s first nine plays.
  • The scourge of “NFL tackle assists by falling in the general vicinity of an offensive player” has infected Tennessee. Williamson’s second sack was his only solo tackle of the night, but he still finished with 7 “tackles.”
  • Brett Kern’s last two punts both went 29 yards. The punt team was my going to be my nominee for the Titans’ most consistent unit, too.
  • Ken Whisenhunt had a very poor challenge of an incompletion on Pittsburgh’s final drive, and it came well after play, with plenty of time for reviews. He is now 0-4 on challenges as Titans head coach.

Short week, road trip to Philly upcoming, with the Eagles looking for a win after getting blown out on Sunday. After seeing what Bell (final line 33-204) did today, Chip Kelly and LeSean McCoy have to be excited to see this defense coming to town. Snap report tomorrow, and I’ll be writing about Ray Horton’s pressure packages this week if I can find the time to actually write a post or two.

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