Titans 46, Lions 25: What We Learned

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Titans still don’t know for certain that they will be in the playoffs three weeks from now.

They took another step toward that goal Sunday when they defeated the Detroit Lions 46-25 at Nissan Stadium, a game that included a career-high five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing) from quarterback Ryan Tannehill and the return of two notable players from injury, cornerback Adoreé Jackson and rookie running back Darrynton Evans. It was Tennessee’s fifth straight with at least 30 points and its second straight victory by three touchdowns.

Here is some of what we learned from that performance:

• Playing (as) favorites: For the second week in a row the Titans faced a team that is nowhere near playoff contention and showed they can take care of business when they are expected to win.

Sure, their lead was just six points late in the third quarter, but they never trailed. In fact, Tennessee led for 53:32 of the game’s 60 minutes. The score was tied for the first 6:20 until the offense scored a touchdown on the opening possession and again at 7-7 for 12 seconds, the amount of time it took for Corey Davis to catch a deep pass from Tannehill and evade a couple defenders the rest of the way en route to a 75-yard touchdown reception, the Titans’ longest pass play of the season.

A week earlier against Jacksonville, they scored 31 of the game’s firs 34 points and cruised to a victory. Likewise, they were tied or led the entire way at Indianapolis in Week 12, which means the only one of their last four opponents (Cleveland) ever had the advantage on the scoreboard.

“We want to be playing our best ball in December, and we feel like we can play better,” safety Kevin Byard said. “So, that's a great feeling knowing that we can always improve, so that's going to be the main thing this week.”

• King Henry keeps going: Derrick Henry has reached the point that he does something noteworthy on a weekly basis.

His pursuit of a second straight rushing title continued with 147 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. With that performance, he set career-highs for carries (321) and rushing yards (1,679) in a season and topped his league-leading 2019 totals of 303 carries for 1,540 yards. He also has 15 rushing touchdowns, which is one short of his career-high from last season.

As a result, Henry is the fourth player in NFL history with at least 1,500 rushing yards and 15 rushing TDs in consecutive seasons.

The others to do so were Hall of Famer Terrell Davis (1997-1998), Shaun Alexander (2004-2005) and Larry Johnson (2005-2006). Davis in 1998 and Alexander in 2005 were named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player.

“We know how important our running game is and we knew what we needed to do to make that happen,” left guard Rodger Saffold said. “We knew we would be able to put points on the board being balanced. So, I think just attacking that gameplan, really coming off the ball, set up a really balanced offense so we were able to score a lot of points.”

• Recovery position: Jeffery Simmons does not just have a nose for the ball. He has the hands too.

The second-year defensive tackle came into the contest as the Titans’ leader in fumble recoveries with two. He got his third, with a little help from a replay challenge by his head coach, and ended the Lions’ opening drive of the second half. Outside linebacker Derick Roberson knocked the ball loose as Detroit tight end T.J. Hockenson tried to convert a third-and-1 on an inside handoff.

It made Simmons the first player on the Titans’ defense since linebacker Brad Kassell in 2005 to have at least three fumble recoveries in a season. In this case, it was particularly important because a clear recovery is necessary for a successful video challenge.

“Jeff has had a lot of those,” coach Mike Vrabel said. “Because he hustled to the football, good things happen. So, Jeff came out with another one. Asked if we had clear recovery. They said yes, and then that allowed us to challenge.”

• Fear factor: The Titans’ pass rush does not even scare a quarterback with a significant rib injury.

Coming into the game, Tennessee was last in the NFL with 14 sacks, which might have had something to do with Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford’s decision to play despite rib and thumb injuries that caused him to miss almost the entire week of practice.

The Lions pulled Stafford in the fourth quarter when the score got out of hand, but before he left, he completed 22 of 32 passes for 252 yards and one touchdown, good for a 102.6 passer rating, his fourth highest of the season. Between Stafford and his replacement, Chase Daniel, the passing game accounted for 71.4 percent of the Lions’ total offense.

“Anybody that's had rib stuff before knows, it's one of those deals, like, it kind of just affects a lot of stuff you do, moving around, breathing, and stuff like that,” Stafford said. “I felt good enough to play and that's why I did it.”

Stafford was not sacked. Neither was Daniel, who attempted six passes, for that matter.

• It’s over: The Titans proved they are not fated to finish every season 9-7.

After a run of four straight years with that record – an NFL first – Tennessee got to 10 wins with two games still on the schedule. This season now includes at least two wins every month. It is also guaranteed to be the first since 2008 in which the Titans have a winning record both at home and on the road. This was their final home game and lifted their record at Nissan Stadium to 5-3. They already are 5-1 on the road with the final two games to be played at Green Bay and Houston.

Additionally, Tennessee is assured of a winning record against the AFC South and the NFC North, two of the three divisions in which it faces every possible opponent. The only problem has been the AFC North, against which the Titans were 1-3.

“You appreciate the win, but 10 wins means nothing,” Tannehill said. “We have bigger goals than that. We just want to find a way to end each week 1-0. We did that this week. We were successful. Now we have to find a way to do that next week.”