Titans-Jaguars: What You Might Have Missed

You know that Stephen Gostkowski kicked the game-winning field goal, that Harold Landry’s interception sealed the outcome and that Jonnu Smith had a big day.

Here are some things that you might have missed during the Tennessee Titans’ 33-30 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

• Two other running backs got carries: Unlike the opener against Denver, Derrick Henry was not the only Titans running back to take handoffs. Jeremy McNichols got the ball on back-to-back plays in the second quarter and gained four and three yards, respectively. Senorise Perry got two carries of his own on consecutive snaps in the third quarter and gained three and six yards, respectively.

McNichols had just two carries for his career prior to Sunday. Those were with Indianapolis in 2018 (he gained four yards). Perry, a sixth-year veteran, had 11 career attempts before his brief appearance (those were his only two plays with the offense), and eight of those were in 2017 with Miami.

“That was the plan – just to find an opportunity to give some other guys some opportunities to show what they can do,” running backs coach Tony Dews said Tuesday. “Those guys come to practice, and they work hard every day. Like anything else, you want to reward those guys and give them an opportunity to see what they can do in those game-time situations. Certainly, those guys went in and did a decent job for us and took advantage of the opportunities that they had.”

• Three false start penalties in a minute: The Titans opened the game with touchdowns on their first two possessions. The third ended with a punt, due in no small part to the fact that Tennessee was flagged for false starts three times in one minute of game time. Left guard Rodger Saffold and Henry did it consecutively and turned a first-and-10 into a first-and-20. After an eight-yard gain, right guard Nate Davis did it.

It was not a lack of focus or communication. It was a lack of execution, at least on the ones committed by Saffold and Davis.

“One thing we've been focused on at least is trying to take advantage of when those players cross into the neutral zone, and that we then react accordingly,” coach Mike Vrabel said Monday. “Unfortunately, we'll have to continue to work and practice and coach that to make sure that they're actually crossing over. There were two of those up front that we reacted when players hadn't actually crossed in, they just kind of moved laterally.

“We've done it at times where we've done it properly, where they cross into the neutral zone and we move. … That's something that we'll continue to work on and to try to take advantage of when they do cross into the neutral zone, that we're moving and getting those free yards.”

• Two pass interference calls led to touchdowns: On the positive side, when it comes to penalties, two Tennessee scoring drives included key pass interference calls against the Jaguars.

Gostkowski’s game-winning kick came four plays after tight end Anthony Firkser drew a pass interference penalty against Jacksonville linebacker Myles Jack on third-and-5 from the Jaguars’ 44. In the second quarter, quarterback Ryan Tannehill’s pass to tight end Jonnu Smith on third-and-4 from the 33 was incomplete, but a pass interference penalty against safety Josh Jones turned it into a 22-yard gain. Eight plays later, Tannehill and Smith connected on a 4-yard touchdown pass that made it 21-7.

“It was huge,” Tannehill said. “The first one, third-down play, had Jonnu one-on-one on the outside in a matchup we liked, and put the ball up. Was feeling really good about with (where) Jonnu was at on that play. I think the DB kind of panicked and made a lot of contact trying to push him out and got the pass interference call. And then the other … Firkser did a good job of trying to create some separation, and the guy hooked him and pulled him back. Really just a good job by those guys doing what they're supposed to do and creating those penalties for us.”

• All of Brett Kern’s punts pinned the Jaguars inside the 20: The Titans punted just three times in nine possessions, and all three resulted in a long field for the Jaguars. The first, early in the second quarter, went only 34 yards but was downed at the Jaguars’ 6. Early in the fourth, he sent one 56 yards, which the return man mishandled, and the ball went out of bounds at the Jaguars’ 14. On the next possession, his 31-yard punt was fair caught at the 11.

On two of three, Jacksonville’s offense never moved the ball as far as midfield.

Through two games, five of Kern’s seven punts have ended up inside the opponent’s 20. None have resulted in touchbacks. Last season, he led the NFL with 37 punts inside the 20 on 78 tries.

“It’s awesome to watch Brett continue to progress and get better each year,” special teams coach Craig Aukerman said during the preseason. “The guy is such a professional and he understands what it takes to get himself ready to punt every year. Then when he goes out there and just starts punting, and just understanding the little techniques and the details that he does in his job. It's pretty special to watch.”

• Only five different players caught passes for the Titans: One thing that Tannehill has done consistently well as the Titans’ starting quarterback has been to spread the ball around. That was not the case against the Jaguars as Adam Humphries (five), Smith (four) Firkser (four), Corey Davis (three) and Cameron Batson (two) were the only ones to catch passes. Henry was targeted twice, but both throws were incomplete.

In 10 regular season starts last season, Tannehill averaged 7.9 different receivers and never had fewer than seven. In the postseason, he averaged 7.7 receivers with a low of six, which was against the Ravens when he completed just seven passes. He connected with eight different players in this season’s opener against Denver.

Obviously, the absence of A.J. Brown, who was out with a knee injury, was a factor, but only two of the three tight ends caught a pass and none of the running backs did.

"It kind of works out that way," quarterbacks coach Pat O'Hara said. "You have a lot of guys on offense that can make plays and they all have different skill sets. I think Arthur does a really good job of understanding that and calling the game to take advantage of the tools we have.

"... There is value in all of our receivers. They are all a little bit different. I think that's a good thing."

Even if it wasn't apparent against Jacksonville.