The Tennessee Titans had never lost to the Carolina Panthers on the road until Sunday, when they fell 30-20 in Bank of America Stadium.
With the loss, the Titans fall to 4-5 on the season and sit at the bottom of the AFC South division.
The Titans had too little, too late going on to ultimately secure the win in a game they never really got started in until the second half.
Here’s a look at what went right, what went wrong and what was just plain ugly in Sunday’s contest.
The Good.
• Mike Vrabel finally showed some emotion. While we’re not lip readers, it looked as if Vrabel had a few choice words for the refs at certain points of the game. Seeing some emotion is refreshing from the usual, “we’ll try again next week” attitude.
• Running back Derrick Henry had a nice game. Henry averaged 4.8 yards per carry, to go along with two touchdowns. However, he only had 13 carries thanks to the flow of the game.
• Outside linebacker Harold Landry recorded his first career interception.
The Bad.
• Penalties absolutely killed the Titans in this one. While penalties usually make the ugly list, this looked like a team void of any discipline. The Titans had 11 penalties that cost them 99 yards.
• Tannehill had two costly interceptions. — one being on AJ Brown for tipping the ball in the air, and the second from not looking off the safety.
• After completely shutting down McCaffrey in the first quarter, the Titans allowed him to take over the game. McCaffrey rushed for 146 yards and two touchdowns, and also caught a walk-in touchdown completely uncovered.
• The Titans didn’t generate enough pass rush. While Landry and Finch both recorded a sack, Panthers quarterback Kyle Allen was able the throw from a clean pocket for a lot of the game.
• The Titans marched down the field to score after halftime, followed up with a three and out by the defense. However, the Panthers converted a fake punt, taking the air out of the tires of the Titans defense.
The Ugly.
• An early whistle overturned a clear McCaffrey fumble that Titans safety Kevin Byard came away with.
• The defensive backs again had some missed opportunities. Cornerback Malcolm Butler dropped a ball that hit him in the chest. Cornerback Adoree’ Jackson missed two — one went through his fingertips, and the second would have been a spectacular one-handed catch.
• Butler was forced to leave the game with a wrist injury. The severity isn’t known at the time.
• Succop missed three field goals in his first game action of the year. Two of the three hit the goal post.
