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Titans vs. Lions: Live Updates, Analysis

Tennessee has a chance to notch its 10th win of the season; Detroit can lock up a winning road record.
David Boclair|
Titans vs. Lions: Live Updates, Analysis
Titans vs. Lions: Live Updates, Analysis

NASHVILLE – It won’t be a perfect 10, but if the Tennessee Titans defeat the Detroit Lions on Sunday at Nissan Stadium, it will be their 10th victory of the season.

That will be a notable number for a franchise that has finished 9-7 each of the last four years (an NFL first) and has not won 10 or more since 2008.

It is the Titans’ final regular-season home game. They have won four of the first seven at Nissan Stadium and a victory will give them a winning record at home for the fourth time in five years. However, their last two home games were losses, 34-17 against Indianapolis on Nov. 12 and 41-35 against Cleveland on Dec. 6.

Detroit is 5-8 overall but is 4-3 in road games. Tennessee is 9-4.

TOP STORYLINES

• The Titans have a chance to clinch a playoff berth. The easiest thing is for them to win and for the Baltimore Ravens to lose. If – or when – it happens, Tennessee will be in the postseason in consecutive years for the first time since 2007-08.

• Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford is expected to start despite rib and thumb injuries that caused him to miss practice on Wednesday and Thursday and limited his participation on Friday. Stafford played all 16 games in eight of the previous nine seasons and has not missed a contest yet in 2020.

• Running back Derrick Henry, the NFL’s leading rusher, needs three carries to become the fourth player in franchise history with at least 300 in consecutive seasons, and needs nine yards to surpass his career-high of 1,540 from 2019, which made him the league’s rushing champion.

WORDS OF WISDOM

“We’re not going to let the guy go out there if he’s in a state where he can’t protect himself and is going to be a detriment to him. But a lot of these things are like, ‘How can you manage the pain? Can you play and function with it?’” – Lions interim coach Darrell Bevell, on the decision to play or sit Stafford.

On to kickoff.

FIRST QUARTER

The Lions won the coin toss and deferred their option until the second half. The Titans will get the ball first.

Darrynton Evans is the return man for Tennessee. He allows the kick to land just inside the end zone for a touchback.

(8:46) The Titans make it look easy on their opening drive, which ends with Derrick Henry’s 3-yard touchdown run. Henry carried seven times for 24 yards, and Ryan Tannehill was 5-5 for 51 yards with completions to four different receivers. The offense faced only one third down. Scoring drive: 12 plays, 75 yards, 6:20. TENNESSEE 7, DETROIT 0

Henry has now scored at least one rushing touchdown in nine of the last 12 games. He has 15 for the season, one short of his 2019 total.

(1:34) The Lions answer with a long drive of their own capped by Marvin Jones’ 2-yard touchdown reception. Jones had four catches for 24 yards on the series. The Lions converted three times on third downs, including the touchdown. Scoring drive: 14 plays, 75 yards, 7:06. TENNESSEE 7, DETROIT 7

Tennessee’s defense has allowed at least one scoring drive of 10 plays or more in every game this season.

(1:34) Nothing deliberate about the Titans’ second drive. Tannehill hooks up with Corey Davis for a 75-yard touchdown on the first play. Scoring drive: 1 play, 75 yards, 0:12. TENNESSEE 14, DETROIT 7

That is the longest reception of Davis’ career (previous best was 51) and gives him a career-high five touchdown catches on the season. 

(0:00) End of the quarter. This is the fourth time this season Tennessee scored 14 points in the first. It won the other three, Sept. 20 vs. Jacksonville, Oct. 18 vs. Houston and Nov. 29 at Indianapolis.

SECOND QUARTER

(12:49) The defense finally forces a punt after Detroit advances to the Titans’ 43. Cameron Batson is the punt returner in place of Kalif Raymond, who is on the COVID-19 reserve list. Batson with a clean fair catch on his first opportunity.

Tennessee will start its third offensive possession at its own 7.

(10:04) Henry does it again. He stiff-arms cornerback Alex Myres with impunity on a 7-yard gain.

(9:38) Ryan Tannehill rolls left on play-action, his primary target, Jonnu Smith, is covered so he keeps it himself and scores on a 17-yard run. Scoring drive: 8 plays, 93 yards, 3:14. TENNESSEE 21, DETROIT 7

Henry carried five times for 46 yards on that possession and now has 70 yards on 12 carries with more than half the game remaining. 

(4:19) Tennessee’s defense with a big stop. On third-and-goal from the 1, DaQuan forces a fumble as D’Andre Swift tries to go over the top. Will Compton then recovers the fumble, and the Titans get the ball at their own 3.

Detroit had gone 72 yards on nine plays, including a 44-yard reception by rookie Hunter Bryant (the first reception of his career) and a 12-yard run by Stafford.

(3:35) Safety. On second-and-8 from the 5, Tannehill is sacked in the end zone by Romeo Okwara, who beat left tackle David Quessenberry. TENNESSEE 21, DETROIT 9

(1:06) The Lions get back into it with a 2-yard touchdown run by Swift. But Lions kicker Matt Prater misses the PAT to the left. Scoring drive: 5 plays, 55 yards, 2:29. TENNESSEE 21, DETROIT 15

A 39-yard reception by Marvin Jones got the Lions to the Tennessee 2 and led the score. Jones already has seven receptions for 75 yards.

Detroit gets the ball to start the second half. The Titans have 1:02 and two timeouts to try to make something happen before then.

(0:03) The offense gets as far as the 20 before they run out of time and have to settle for a 38-yard field goal attempt. Stephen Gostkowski’s kick is good. Scoring drive: 8 plays, 52 yards, 1:02. TENNESSEE 24, DETROIT 15

Tannehill was 4-6 for 49 yards on that drive and ended the half 11-14 for 182 yards and one touchdown. Henry has 80 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. Davis leads all receivers with 96 yards and a touchdown on three receptions.

Linebacker David Long has a game-high nine tackles in the first half. That already is two shy of his career-high.

The Titans have outgained the Lions 274-228.

Tennessee’s 24 first-half points equal their second-highest total of the season (Week 2 vs. Jacksonville). The only time they had more was when they scored 35 at Indianapolis on Nov. 29.

THIRD QUARTER

(8:53) Tennessee with a replay challenge. Detroit converts a third-and-1 with a handoff to tight end T.J. Hockenson, who barely got enough for the first down. The ball came out at the end of the play, but officials ruled Hockenson already was down by contact. Call overturned. Derick Roberson credited with the caused fumble. Jeffery Simmons makes the recovery.

It’s Titans’ ball at their own 20.

(6:07) Tennessee’s offense can’t do anything with the takeaway. It goes 25 yards before the drive stalls and Brett Kern punts for the first time today. It goes 47 yards and forces the Lions to start from inside their own 20 (their 7, to be exact).

(4:22) Officials order safety Amani Hooker to the sideline after the NFL’s independent spotter determined he might have a concussion.

(4:14) The defense gets a third-down stop and forces a 53-yard field goal attempt by Matt Prater. The kick is good. The Titans are called for offside but Detroit declines and keeps the points. Scoring drive: 6 plays, 58 yards, 1:49. TENNESSEE 24, DETROIT 18

Hooker apparently has been cleared. He takes the field with the kickoff return team.

(0:54) Henry with a 4-yard run to the right. That puts him over 100 yards rushing for the day. He has 103 on 20 carries.

FOURTH QUARTER

(15:00) The first play of the quarter is a 33-yard run by Henry to the Detroit 3.

(14:33) On the next play, Tannehill runs it in. Henry follows with a run for the two-point conversion that pushes the lead to 14 points. Scoring drive: 9 plays, 83 yards, 4:39. TENNESSEE 32, DETROIT 18

That is Tannehill’s second rushing touchdown of the day, which ties his career-high. His only other game with two was Nov. 24, 2019 against Jacksonville, his fifth start for the Titans.

(13:44) A botched shotgun snap by turns into a seven-yard loss for the Lions and makes it third-and-15 from the Detroit 20.

(12:09) After an 11-yard gain on third down, the Lions attempt a fake punt, but the Titans stop C.J. Moore, who took the direct snap, one yard short of the first down. Rookie wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine credited with the tackle.

Tennessee ball at the Detroit 34.

(9:04) The Titans open up a 21-point advantage with A.J. Brown’s 2-yard touchdown reception, six plays after the failed fake punt. Scoring drive: 6 plays, 34 yards, 3:02. TENNESSEE 39, DETROIT 18

Darrynton Evans gave Henry a rest on that possession. He carried three times for six yards and had one reception for 24 yards, which set up the touchdown.

(8:54) Matthew Stafford’s day is done. Chase Daniel is in at quarterback for Detroit.

(6:27) Daniel quickly takes the Lions down the field and Swift scores his second rushing touchdown of the day, this one from 6 yards. Scoring drive: 6 plays, 60 yards, 2:37. TENNESSEE 39, DETROIT 25

(6:22) Corey Davis recovers the onside kick. He has 110 yards and a touchdown on four receptions, but that was an equally important catch.

(2:07) Evans scores his first career touchdown with a 3-yard reception. The rookie running back tried to run it in from the 2 but was stuffed. Scoring drive: 10 plays, 45 yards, 4:16. TENNESSEE 46, DETROIT 25

(1:32) Kevin Byard makes his long-awaited first interception of the season. All that remains is to count off the remaining time (Detroit has no timeouts).

(0:00) End of the game.

The Titans win. Good thing too because Indianapolis also won. Both teams are 10-4. Tennessee continues to hold the tiebreaker based on the better division record.

Henry finished with 147 yards and one touchdown on 24 carries. Tannehill was 21-27 for 273 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions (a 145.8 passer rating). Jonnu Smith and A.J. Brown had five receptions apiece, but their 96 combined receiving yards paled in comparison to Corey Davis, who had 110 yards on four catches.

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David Boclair
DAVID BOCLAIR

David Boclair has covered the Tennessee Titans for multiple news outlets since 1998. He is award-winning journalist who has covered a wide range of topics in Middle Tennessee as well as Dallas-Fort Worth, where he worked for three different newspapers from 1987-96. As a student journalist at Southern Methodist University he covered the NCAA's decision to impose the so-called death penalty on the school's football program.

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