Nothing to see here.
Literally nothing from the Tennessee Titans in any facet of Sunday's 17-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars – their fifth in a row – in a game that was must-win if this team was going to salvage anything from the 2010 season.
Mathematically, Tennessee is still alive for the playoffs. Logically, not only is the Titans' season over, but the organization may be in need of an overhaul as well. Now, for the fifth time in the past seven years, the Titans have endured at least a five-game losing streak.
Tennessee's offense did not produce a touchdown for the third straight game. In all, the offense has now gone 13 quarters without a touchdown.
And the defense spent most of its day getting pushed around by the Jaguars offensive line. Running back Maurice Jones-Drew chewed up 186 yards, and Jacksonville became the latest opponent to put up nearly 40 minutes in time of possession.
“It's on everybody. We're all responsible. It's a team effort,” defensive end Jacob Ford said.
Fellow end William Hayes was more blunt about it and put it even better, saying, “I just think right now, everybody's got to get their (expletive) together … Honestly, they just kicked our (expletive) today.”
That was evident from the outset, as the Jaguars lined up for much of the day in a power package, with two tight ends, two running backs, and only one receiver, and just pushed the Titans out of the way.
The Jaguars drove 77 yards in 12 plays for a touchdown in their opening possession, and it was literally all they needed to best the punchless Titans.
“We didn't expect that at all,” cornerback Cortland Finnegan said. “We're ready for anything, but today they had a great game plan. They were able to execute, and we weren't able to get off the field. So that's always tough to win the football game.”
The Titans whiffed on plenty of tackles to make the Jaguars offense look that much more dominant.
“It was simple stuff. It seemed like they had the right plays for whatever we were running,” said safety Michael Griffin, who was on the receiving end of a Jones-Drew stiff arm late in the game to add insult to a wretched day for the Titans.
Linebacker Stephen Tulloch pleaded for better from himself and his teammates.
"We represent this organization, and we represent ourselves, and we owe the fans much better play than we've been playing," he said.
At least most of the defense was around to answer for their latest failure. Many of the offensive culprits in Sunday's loss had bolted the locker room in the aftermath of the abysmal performance. Running back Chris Johnson skipped his media session after a 13-carry, 53-yard performance.
Tight end Bo Scaife, who had two critical drops, including one that might have been for a touchdown, was out early as well.
Randy Moss, who is still inexplicably not being targeted in the offense (three throws, one catch for 13 yards), declined to speak, but at least was around long enough to say so.
Quarterback Kerry Collins, who suffered through a 14 of 32 day for 169 yards and two picks, spoke up and echoed the sentiment that the loss falls on everyone.
“There is not one guy who can say that they didn't have something to do with this,” Collins said. “Offensively, I could have thrown the ball better. There were more plays out there to be made, and for whatever reasons, we didn't make them.”
- Terry McCormick
- co-publiser of TitanInsider - Lions247