Winners and Losers From Titans Loss to Colts

The Tennessee Titans hosted the Indianapolis Colts for a Week 3 AFC South showdown. The Colts marched into Nissan Stadium with an undefeated record and were looking to keep the Titans from earning their first win of the season.

The Colts got off to a quick start, scoring 17 points in the first quarter to take an early lead. The Titans' offense found some sort of a rhythm later in the game, but they never really made it a close game and went on to lose 41-20.

Here were the winners and losers for the Titans in Week 3.

Winner: Elic Ayomanor

Rookie WR Elic Ayomanor has received a lot of attention this season. Ever since he was named a Week 1 starter, all eyes have been on the rookie. He'd only caught six passes for 69 yards and a touchdown heading into this game, but Cam Ward has targeted him a lot early in the season, and his role should only continue to grow.

While the Titans didn't find much success through the air this week, Ayomanor had himself another pretty good day. He caught four passes for 38 yards and a touchdown in Week 3, and had the third-most targets (5) on the team.

Ayomanor continues to show flashes each week, and it's only a matter of time before he truly breaks out.

Loser: Rushing Defense

One of the keys to this game for the Colts was to slow down Jonathan Taylor. The Colts' RB1 was coming off a massive game against the Broncos, where he ran for 165 yards, and the Titans' defense couldn't afford to give up a bunch of big gains on the ground.

Despite their best effort, the Titans' defense had little to no answer for Taylor and the rest of the Colts' rushing attack. Taylor carried the ball 17 times for 102 yards (6.0 average) and scored three touchdowns.

The Titans needed to stop the Colts from running all over them, but they just couldn't get anything going defensively.

Colts, RB, Jonathan Taylor — Sep 21, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor (28) looks for daylight through the Tennessee Titans defense during the third quarter at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Nelles-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images | Andrew Nelles-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

Loser: Tony Pollard

After a pretty disappointing Week 1 performance, Tony Pollard bounced back in Week 2 and was pretty solid, rushing for 92 yards on 20 carries (4.6 average) behind a pretty poor offensive line. With Tyjae Spears, the Titans wanted to see him cement himself as RB1, but his performance today left a lot to be desired.

Pollard carried the ball 16 times for 45 yards (2.8 average) against the Colts. He did score his first touchdown of the season, but that's only because Chimere Dike's first career touchdown was called back.

Spears should be back sooner rather than later, and it wouldn't be too surprising if he gets a lot of work with Pollard's struggles.

Loser: Brian Callahan

Tennessee Titans, HC, Brian Callahan — Tennessee Titans coach Brian Callahan reacts to a play against the Los Angeles Rams during the second quarter at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. | Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Brian Callahan's seat was red hot entering the year, and it hasn't cooled down at all through the first three games. He was almost fired at the end of last season, but they wanted to give him a chance with a quarterback he hand-picked, but it hasn't gone well thus far.

Through three games, the Titans' offense has scored 61 points (20.3 PPG). Cam Ward has shown flashes, but his supporting cast hasn't been good enough for him to really show what he can do. Callahan's also had quite a few clock management blunders and made some questionable coaching decisions.

This performance against the Colts has only raised the temperature on his seat.

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