Titans stifled in 26-10 loss to Cowboys

The Tennessee Titans dropped to 1-1 after falling to the Dallas Cowboys 26-10 in their home opener at LP Field today.

The contest was virtually a mirror image of last week’s encouraging Titans win against the Kansas City Chiefs, in a number of areas. The similarities ran beyond just the 26-10 score. This time it was the Titans that failed to establish anything in the passing game, the Titans that got gashed on the ground in run plays, the Titans that had a break or two go against them, the Titans that on the whole finished the game having been outplayed in virtually every area of the contest.

The two biggest culprits were probably Jake Locker and the run defense. Locker was miserable in the first half, playing about as poorly as he ever had in the NFL. The run defense was perhaps even worse, as DeMarco Murray had 115 yards by halftime. At that point the Cowboys were up 16-0. Locker played better at the end of the second half, putting up 10 points on his first two drives. The TD came on a 61-yard catch-and-run to Delanie Walker, who had a strong game overall and was the most reliable passing target. Unfortunately, the Cowboys were able to respond to every score. Jason McCourty left early in the second half with a groin injury, and Tony Romo was able to find Dez Bryant consistently in key situations. When Nate Washington couldn’t hang on to a contested catch in the end zone and Walker couldn’t manage to stay in-bounds on Locker’s pass the next play in the fourth quarter, it was all over but the shouting.

Standouts? Walker is one. The Titans got a lot of pressure on Romo early in the game, as the Cowboys didn’t do much in the air in the first half. Credit McCourty based on revealed preference for that. Credit also to Jurrell Casey, who had a pair of sacks. Some credit to Ropati Pitoitua as well, for a sack and a forced fumble. Demerits to plenty of players, though, as Ken Whisenhunt’s attempt in media sessions to stress that last week was just one game came to fruition. Take 24 hours to let off steam, figure out what went wrong, and realize that the truth of the 2014 Titans is probably somewhere between the extremes of the first two weeks.