Like the temperature, the Tennessee Titansthe season hit a low on Saturday.
the The Titans lost 19-14 to the Houston Texans in the The coldest match in the history of Nissan Stadium Saturday. The Titans (7-8) lost five straight for the first time since a six-game losing streak in 2015 and found themselves tied for the top of the AFC South with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
At launch, delayed an hour, the temperature was 20 degrees with a wind chill of 6 degrees.
The Texans (2-12-1) have the worst record in the NFL, but managed to come back from a fourth-quarter deficit behind two scorching shots led by sophomore quarterback Davis Mills. Titans rookie quarterback Malik Willis, who started his second career in place of injured starter Ryan Tannehill, got the ball with 2:52 left and a chance to drive for the winning score, but threw an interception with 1:33 left.
The Titans got the ball back after a Texans punt and crossed the 50-yard line to the 43rd with five seconds left and a chance for a Hail Mary. Willis was intercepted on his final shot for the loss.
REPORT CARD:Here’s how we rated a frosty performance by the Tennessee Titans in the loss to the Houston Texans
Willis threw for 99 yards and rushed for 43 yards with a touchdown. Running back Derrick Henry led the Titans offense with 126 yards and one score, but he was mostly thwarted in the second half after going for 83 yards in the first half, including a 48-yard touchdown.
It was the first fourth-quarter comeback win of Mills’ career. Mills led scoring passes for 49 and 73 yards in the fourth quarter, going 9 for 9 with 103 yards on those two passes.
The delay, the record
No offense in this game looked set to break records, but Mother Nature did. the The temperature at the start was 20 degrees, making it the coldest game in Nissan Stadium history. With the wind chill, conditions were like 6 degrees, also breaking a Nissan Stadium record.
Due to extreme temperatures throughout the region, The departure was postponed for an hour from noon to 1 p.m. The delay was an attempt not to overwhelm the power grid and carried out in accordance with strategic power outages across the city to preserve electricity with demand for electricity as high as the temperatures drop.
Offensive line issues persist
Heading into Saturday, the Titans hadn’t had much success protecting their quarterbacks even with their starting offensive line intact. But with starting center and left guard Ben Jones and Nate Davis and rotational sixth man Dillon Radunz all on injured reserve this week, the Titans found themselves with options than normal, and it showed.
The Texans have fired Willis four times and brought runners back behind the line of scrimmage eight more times. The Titans linemen were also called for three penalties.
After halftime, rookie right tackle Nicholas Petit-Frère left the game with an ankle injury, making way for Le’Raven Clark to be the third reserve to play with the first unit. The Titans’ next five drives after Willis’ touchdown in the third quarter ended with three three or four outs and two turnovers.
Return the game
During their four-game losing streak, the Titans offense went three times on their first practice after halftime all four times. In two of those four losses, the defense also allowed a touchdown the first time they went out in the third quarter.
This week, the Titans flipped that script and in doing so helped turn the game around. Houston entered halftime leading 10-7 and won the ball back after the break. But the defense held on to a fourth-and-one in positive territory and gave way to the offense, which exploded with six carries over six plays, culminating in Willis’ first career touchdown and the Titans’ first lead since the first. quarter.
And after?
The Titans have a short week ahead of them. They return to action against the Dallas Cowboys in Nashville Thursday night (7:15 p.m. CT, CBS, Amazon Prime).
Nick Suss is the Titans screenwriter for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on Twitter @nicksuss.
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