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Sluggish Titans fall in overtime to Jets, 27-24




The Tennessee Titans did everything in their power to hand the New York Jets their first win of the season on Sunday, as Randy Bullock missed what would have been a tying field goal at the end of overtime in a 27-24 loss.

The 49-yard attempt was a wounded duck of a kick that sailed wide left and was the final epitaph on a day filled with mistakes the Titans simply could not overcome.

“Hopefully, we can get back to work and get back on the right track and get healthy. We’re pretty beat up,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said.

The Titans, who fell to 2-2, went to New York without their top two receivers in injured A.J. Brown and Julio Jones, and they sputtered from the start when they had a chance to take control of the game.

Though they were able to piece together a fourth-quarter drive that forced overtime, their problems on defense, the offensive line and the special teams flub at the end proved to be their undoing.

In the first half, the Titans had three different opportunities to break the game open but wound up settling for Bullock field goals on each drive. That allowed the Jets to hang around and pull to within 9-7 at the half on Michael Carter’s 1-yard TD run.

Vrabel said little breakdowns kept the Titans from reaching the end zone.

“It’s a key to the game and something they’re really good at, and it’s something you can flip on them if you’re able to score,” Vrabel said. “It’s just one thing usually in the red zone. It’s one block or one route to make sure your spacing is good and finishing the blocks, so Derrick (Henry) can score. I know we can do it. It’s just early on in the game, we weren’t able to.”

Ryan Tannehill said the Titans had multiple mistakes throughout the game.

“We’ve got to be able to score when we get down there,” Tannehill said. “It’s tough to pinpoint one area or one group or anything. It’s been one thing here and one thing there — a bad snap, missed opportunity, bad throw, drop. It’s been everything. We have to as a group be able to clean things up, come together and execute.”

New York had not held a lead at any point in its 0-3 start to the season, but that changed with a 27-yard field goal from Matt Ammendola in the third quarter that gave the Jets a 10-9 edge.

The Titans answered back as Henry scored from a yard out at the 11:30 mark of the fourth quarter. MyCole Pruitt scored on a two-point conversion pass from Ryan Tannehill to give Tennessee a short-lived 17-10 edge.

But the Jets answered right back, taking advantage of a big pass interference play on Dane Cruikshank against Corey Davis to set up a TD pass to Jamison Crowder that tied the game at 17.

After the Titans failed to score, Wilson came right back and found former Titans receiver Davis deep on the 53-yard score that put New York up 24-17 with 9:06 to go. Davis had a big day against his ex-teammates, catching four passes for 111 yards and the TD.

“It’s not surprising when you give up big plays,” Titans safety Kevin Byard said. “We’re not going to sit up here and make excuses. We just didn’t make the plays we needed to win the football game. I feel like we’re frustrated because we got our tails whooped. … Us as a defense or as a team, we’re just not understanding how to play complementary football right now. The offense makes a big play, we’ve got to go out there and get a stop, and when you don’t do that, things don’t go well.”

Tannehill was under duress all game long, being sacked seven times for 45 yards of loss, six of them on third downs, as the Jets applied pressure with blitzes and overmatched the Titans’ shaky offensive line.

The Titans marched downfield in the fourth quarter, trying to get the tying touchdown, but the drive fizzled when Tannehill’s fourth-down pass fell incomplete and the Titans turned it over on downs.

With 2:09 left, the Titans got one final chance to tie the game and cashed in on it. In the waning moments of regulation, the Titans scored with 16 seconds to go, as Tannehill found Cam Batson from two yards out. The Titans were aided when the Jets were called for pass interference on a fourth-and-10 incompletion to Chester Rogers.

In overtime, the Jets won the coin toss and elected to receive. New York drove to the Titans 1-yard line, but on third-and-goal at the 1, Denico Autry tackled quarterback Wilson on a rollout for a 4-yard loss. The Jets settled for Ammendola’s 22-yard field goal, but when Bullock missed the kick, it proved to be enough for their first win of the year.

Henry had 157 yards on 33 carries with the Titans’ first touchdown.

Tannehill was 30 of 49 for 298 yards with one touchdown in playing without his top two receivers. Running back Jeremy McNichols was Tennessee’s leading receiver with eight catches for 74 yards.

The Titans, who fell to 2-2, will try to get back on the winning track when they face another winless team on the road in the Jacksonville Jaguars next Sunday.

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