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Titans bounce back, roll past winless Jaguars




The Tennessee Titans bounced back from last week’s loss to the Jets by downing the Jaguars 37-19 on Sunday in Jacksonville.

Tennessee improved to 3-2 and maintained its lead in the AFC South heading into the toughest part of its schedule, beginning with a Monday night home game against the Buffalo Bills on Oct. 18.

The Titans will gladly take the victory, knowing there are still things to clean up before hosting Buffalo to begin a tough five-game stretch.

Titans coach Mike Vrabel pointed out several things the Titans need to improve on but admitted it was good to see his club take control of the game when it was needed.

“When we had to have plays, we had them,” he said. “It was impressive to go out there and get a stop when we did. It was impressive to be able to take the football and control it the way we did.”

Jacksonville fell to 0-5 overall and became just the third NFL franchise ever to lose 20 straight games over two seasons, joining the 1942-45 Chicago Cardinals and the 1976-77 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in that infamous category.

Derrick Henry was steady, going for 130 yards on 29 carries with three scores. It marked the fourth consecutive game Henry has gone over 100 yards rushing.

“Derrick does a great job pretty much every week,” quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. “That’s what he’s pretty much done over the course of his career.”

Tannehill was sharp and efficient, hitting 14 of 22 passes for 197 yards and a touchdown to complement Henry’s work.

Tennessee’s defense, which had its ups and downs on Sunday, got the scoring started on the first series of the game. Rookie Elijah Molden jarred the football loose after a completed pass to Dan Arnold that safety Kevin Byard picked up and returned 30 yards for a Titans touchdown and a quick 7-0 lead.

“It felt great to get my first NFL touchdown. It’s been a long time coming,” said Byard, who also added a late interception. “This was a must-win. All of our division games are must-wins. … It was a good win. I’m not going to apologize for it, even though it wasn’t pretty.”

Jacksonville answered on the ensuing drive, using the rushing of James Robinson, who broke off a 68-yard gain to set up a 1-yard TD run later in the drive. However, the extra point from Matthew Wright hit the upright, leaving the Titans with a 7-6 lead.

The Titans scored again on their next series, with Henry getting in from a yard out.

Again, Jacksonville was able to answer, going for it on fourth-and-goal at the 1, as Trevor Lawrence found Jacob Hollister for the TD.

Tannehill then connected with Pruitt on a 14-yard TD to push the lead to 21-13.

The Titans got a 34-yard field goal from Randy Bullock with 31 seconds of play in the second to make the score 24-13 at the half.

Tennessee took the football to start the second half and put together another scoring drive, with Henry scoring for the second time as the Titans had a seemingly comfortable 31-13 edge.

Jacksonville scored a touchdown and went for two but didn’t get it to cut the lead to 31-19 with 13:50 to go. After a Titans three-and-out, the Jaguars drove deep, and Lawrence was initially ruled to have scored on a third-and-goal scramble. However, replay overturned the ball, and on fourth-and-goal at the 1, Teair Tart and Chris Jackson blew up the run play to Carlos Hyde for a loss and a goal-line stand.

The play kept it a two-score game, and the Titans were able to put the game away from there.

“My mindset was to just go out there and make a play for the team,” Tart said. “It was a big momentum swing for the team, with them going for it on fourth down and me going out there and making a play. It was a big momentum swing at a crucial moment in the game.”

Harold Landry had a big game again for the Titans with two more sacks, giving him 4.5 to lead the team through five games.

Late in the game, the Jaguars missed on another fourth down opportunity, and Henry sealed the game by rushing for 39 yards, including a 10-yard TD, on five carries on the drive as the Titans scored on the first play after the two-minute warning. Bullock, however, missed the PAT.

Byard finished off the game with an interception on the final play in the end zone.

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