The Titans thwarted their own potential comeback against the Ravens with a horrific decision to punt early in the fourth quarter. The Titans were facing a fourth down with just two yards to go for a first down conversion with about 10 minutes left in the game.
The Titans were down 17-13 at this point in the game and had the ball at the Ravens 40-yard line. Even in a game where star running back Derrick Henry was struggling, the Titans probably should’ve tried to go for it.
Even if they didn’t want to use Henry in that situation, punting the ball really made no sense. The Titans have had one of the best offenses in the league for the past two seasons and they couldn’t come up with a play to net them two yards at a pivotal situation?
They’d nearly gained the yards needed on 3rd down, but Jonnu Smith was hit by DeShon Elliott and dropped the ball.
The punt and the timing of the punt were so bad, that it dramatically decreased the Titans’ chances of winning the game. According to Ben Baldwin of The Athletic, the Titnas had just a 24% chance of winning the game after their punt.
—> BAL (17) @ TEN (13) <—
TEN has 4th & 2 at the BAL 40Recommendation (VERY STRONG): 👉 Go for it (+7.9 WP)
Actual play: 🏈🦵 B.Kern punts 25 yards to BLT 15, Center-M.Overton, fair catch by D.Duvernay. pic.twitter.com/jOnBdWPgVp— 4th down decision bot (@ben_bot_baldwin) January 10, 2021
It was really one of the most cowardly punts since anyone started monitoring cowardly punts:
TEN decided to punt to BAL from the BAL 40 on 4th & 2 with 10:06 remaining in the 4th while losing 13 to 17.
With a Surrender Index of 138.87, this punt ranks at the 100th percentile of cowardly punts of the 2020 season, and the 99.92nd percentile of all punts since 2009.
— Surrender Index 90 (@surrender_idx90) January 10, 2021
The logic behind going for it is pretty simple. Time is running out and the Titans needed a touchdown to take the lead since they were down by four. There’s no guarantee that the Ravens don’t score and there’s no guarantee that the Titans would get the ball in this position again. Also, it’s two freaking yards. Go for it.
They punted, the Ravens hit a field goal on their next drive, and the Titans threw a pick to end the game after that.
Never punt.
