The Tennessee Titans may have lost both of their home preseason games, but the team was able to deliver on the road.
The Titans won the first preseason contest against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial field, and were able to come from behind and defeat the Chicago Bears, 19-15 at Soldier Field on Thursday night.
Some players performed better than others as darkhorse candidates made their last push for a place on the final 53-man roster.
Here are some studs and duds from the last preseason contest.
Stud: CB Tye Smith
While the secondary as a whole didn’t have its best showing, Smith started fast and early.
Smith recorded three tackles and one sack on the win. Expect to see him on the active roster when the Titans make cuts ahead of the start of the regular season.
Dud: RB Jeremy McNichols
Many expected McNichols to have a memorable performance in the final preseason game in hopes of convincing the Titans to keep add a fourth running back to the 53-man roster.
But we hardly saw anything out of Dawkins, as he had just three carries for eight yards.
Stud: RB Dalyn Dawkins
We haven’t seen a lot of Dawkins this preseason, but he made his presence felt on Thursday night.
The rusher recorded 13 carries for 117 yards to finish out the game as the team’s leading rusher. But he proved to be a dual threat, reeling in four passes for 31 yards and two touchdowns.
Dawkins was the only Titan to find the end zone on Thursday, with kicker Ryan Succop putting the rest of the points on the board.
Dud: Penalties
The Titans cheated themselves out of several opportunities because of penalties, four of which came in the first 10 minutes of the game.
This absolutely can’t happen in the regular season if the Titans are to finish with a record better than the 9-7 one they’ve held over the past three consecutive seasons.
Stud: OLB Derick Roberson
Roberson was able to get the pressure on Bears quarterback Tyler Bray more than most other other members of the defense, ending the night with five tackles, one assist and two sacks.
Whether or not he’s able to crack the final roster remains to be seen, but his efforts didn’t go unseen in the preseason finale.
