Red Zone Failures Add Up in Defeat

Against the Cincinnati Bengals, Ryan Tannehill and the rest of the offense had their worst performance of the season when close to the end zone.

NASHVILLE – Though the Tennessee Titans have not been a high-scoring team this season, they had at least one strength.

Once they got the ball close to the end zone, they usually put up points.

Tennessee took the second-best red-zone offense into Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Nissan Stadium, having scored touchdowns on 20 of 27 trips inside the opponents’ 20-yard line, a success rate of better than 74 percent.

Those numbers don’t look as good following a 20-16 defeat, however. Tennessee had its worst showing this season in the red zone with no touchdowns on three tries. The offense also failed to score a touchdown on a drive that reached the Bengals’ 20.

“It is unusual,” quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. “We put a lot of focus and attention in practice down on the red zone, pride ourselves on being good down there. (Sunday), we didn’t execute well enough.”

The red-zone success actually has been slipping over the past several weeks. Tennessee started the year in scorching fashion, scoring touchdowns on 11 of its first 13 possessions (84.6 percent) inside the 20 during the first five games. Since then, the Titans have been solid, not special, scoring touchdowns on nine of 17 red-zone trips over the last six contests.

But Sunday’s 0-3 performance was a low point. The Titans got to – in order – Cincinnati’s 15, 17, 6 and 20-yard lines but failed to find the end zone on any of those possessions.

“Yeah, we didn't find a way for us to score touchdowns in the red zone,” right tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere said. “That's something that we need to find a way for us to do. We’ve got to talk about it, watch the film and figure out how to find a way for us to be able to do that.”

Here’s a look at what went wrong on each of the red-zone possessions:

EARLY SECOND QUARTER

Situation at the time: On a drive that began at the Tennessee 46, the Titans had gained a first down at the Bengals’ 16-yard line. The score was 0-0.

What went wrong: On first down, Tannehill tried to hit tight end Geoff Swaim on a short pass. Swaim was open and looked as if he might have had a decent gain, but he dropped the ball. Derrick Henry gained a yard on second down, part of a day that saw him run just 17 times for 38 yards. Tannehill was unable to connect with Robert Woods on third down, meaning the Titans had to settle for Caleb Shudak’s 33-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.

LATE SECOND QUARTER

Situation at the time: On a drive that began at the Tennessee 25, the Titans had gained a first down at the Bengals’ 19-yard line. The score was tied 10-10.

What went wrong: Tannehill hit Dontrell Hilliard for a 2-yard pass on first down. But on second-and-8, another dropped pass by a tight end – this one bounced off Austin Hooper’s hands – left the Titans in third-and-8. A pass toward Nick Westbrook-Ikhine in the end zone was incomplete and a missed Shudak field goal followed – a deflating moment after a long drive.

“We had some opportunities where we stubbed our toe a little bit, stopped drives that had chances to keep going,” Tannehill said. “Overall, we’ve just got to be clean and make plays more consistently.”

LATE THIRD QUARTER

Situation at the time: On a drive that began at the Tennessee 25, the Titans had gained a first down at the Bengals’ 12-yard line. The Bengals led 13-10 at the time.

What went wrong: Back-to-back Henry carries moved the ball to the 6. But on third-and-4, Tannehill failed to connect with tight end Chig Okonkwo on a crossing pattern. Tannehill threw a fastball from a short range at Okonkwo’s helmet, and the rookie wasn’t able to hold on to it. In hindsight, Tannehill should have thrown to Robert Woods, who was wide open coming out of the backfield.

MID-FOURTH QUARTER

Situation at the time: On a drive that began at the Tennessee 25, the Titans had gained a first down at the Bengals’ 20-yard line. It technically wasn’t a red-zone possession (not inside the 20-yard line), but close enough. The Bengals led 20-13 at the time.

What went wrong: Another Henry run was smashed for no gain on first down, followed by a swing pass to Dalton Hilliard that resulted in a five-yard loss. On third-and-15, Titans coach Mike Vrabel chose to throw short, setting up Shudak for a shorter field goal instead of making a more aggressive attempt at the first-down marker. Westbrook-Ikhine gained 10 yards, setting up the Shudak field goal that cut Cincinnati’s lead to 20-16 with 6:11 left in the contest.

But that was the last time the Titans would possess the ball, as Cincinnati used up the remainder of the clock on its final drive.

In the end, the Titans produced just six points on three trips to the red zone (and a fourth that reached the 20) and 16 points overall – not enough to prevent another loss to the Bengals.

“Yeah, overall, we just didn’t make enough plays down there,” Tannehill said. “We got down there a few times and had some opportunities, didn’t make enough plays.”