Titans Put Jaguars Away With Points Just Before, After Halftime
In a game many expected to be a blowout, it took until just before halftime for the Tennessee Titans to blow the doors open against Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
Late into the second quarter, Jacksonville trailed the AFC-South-leading Titans 7-3. Yet, in the final minute of the first half Tennessee hung 10 points on Jacksonville’s defense. On the first possession of the second half, the offense scored a touchdown.
With that, the Titans had a three-touchdown advantage and never looked back as they cruised to a 31-10 victory at TIAA Bank Stadium.
“We had been moving the ball, but we weren’t finishing initially,” quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. “We needed the scores. We needed to finish the drives. And we were able to do that. … We just put full drives together, and we were able to score.”
Derrick Henry started the surge. With less than three minutes left in the half, the NFL’s leading rusher got loose for 22 yards and got the ball across midfield. Two plays later, Henry broke a 36-yard touchdown run that made it 14-3 lead with 44 seconds to go before halftime.
“I just had to go out there and move north and south to try and move the pile forward,” Henry said after the game. “I just tried to get yards to move down the field.”
Tennessee’s defense held and got the ball back to the offense at its own 37 with nine seconds on the clock. Two quick passes for 28-yards later, kicker Stephen Gostkowski nailed a 53-yard field goal as time expired and gave the Titans their biggest lead up to that point, 17-3.
“We just stuck with it, and kept going,” Tannehill said. “There at the end of the half, there was a huge stop by the defense. Then we backed them up with two plays getting into field goal range, and then Stephen with the kick. That was a huge play for us, in order to come into half getting those next few points.”
To open the second half, the Titans drove 75 yards, and tight end Geoff Swaim caught a 5-yard touchdown grab. The score was set up by Henry, who had a 47-yard run that ended when he was tackled at the Jaguars’ 5.
Following a Malcolm Butler interception, Tennessee scored again on its next possession.
Henry’s 1-yard touchdown run made it 31-3 just over six minutes into the half. The Pro Bowl running back finished with 215 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 25 rushing attempts against a reeling Jacksonville defense. Seventy-five of his yards came on the drive that got the Titans going.
“I am just happy to play great team football,” Henry said. “I am excited to go do my job. We just wanted to play well as an offense and put some drives together that got into the endzone. And I feel like all of us were able to do that.”
They also got some help from an intentional grounding penalty with 26 seconds to go before halftime, which cost the Jaguars 10 yards and caused the clock to stop.
There also was Jacksonville's decision to receive the opening kickoff after it won the coin toss, which ensured Tennessee got the ball coming out of halftime. Of course, the Jaguars had no way to know what the Titans would do going into the break.
“We felt like we were right where we needed to be with (nine) seconds in a down, down, timeout situation,” coach Mike Vrabel said. “Then … (Gostkowski) being able to execute it, then come out in the second half and score. Those are tough to overcome.
“All those things add up in helping you win football games, coming out in the second half and doubling them up in the manner which we did.”
