Titans Hit Rock Bottom in Blowout Loss to Jaguars: A Team Searching for Answers
If you were at Nissan Stadium on Sunday, you had plenty of elbow room-and honestly, that might’ve been the best part of the afternoon for Titans fans. Tennessee’s 25-3 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars wasn’t just a bad game-it was a full-on unraveling of a team that looks lost, frustrated, and increasingly defeated.
And the players know it.
“We’re all pretty pissed off right now,” said rookie guard Peter Skoronski, speaking with the kind of raw honesty that tends to surface when a season is spiraling. “It doesn’t matter what our record is, we want to go out there and try to win and put on a good performance, and that wasn’t that.”
A Promising Start That Fizzled Fast
The Titans actually opened the game with a glimmer of hope. They marched 70 yards on 11 plays to open the game, showing rhythm and urgency. But that drive stalled at the Jacksonville 10-yard line, and facing a fourth-and-3, interim head coach Mike McCoy opted for the safe play-a 28-yard Joey Slye field goal.
That decision loomed large as the game wore on.
McCoy later explained the thought process: “The conversation was if it was fourth-and-2, we were going for it. If it was fourth-and-3, we were going to kick it on the first drive and get points.”
Rookie quarterback Cam Ward wasn’t exactly on board with the conservative call.
“We need to go for it, I believe,” Ward said. “What do we have to lose?”
Turns out, the Titans lost more than just four points. They lost momentum.
They lost composure. And eventually, they lost control of the game.
Offense Stuck in Neutral
From that opening drive on, Tennessee’s offense never found its footing. Not a single play went for more than 16 yards.
Ward, coming off a promising performance the week before, couldn’t generate anything downfield. He finished 24-of-38 for 141 yards-no touchdowns, no interceptions, but no real spark either.
The Titans managed just 188 total yards, their third-lowest output of the season. For a team that’s already struggled to move the ball, this was another step in the wrong direction.
“It’s sloppy,” McCoy said bluntly. “You look at the whole thing-you have 10 penalties, two turnovers, some big plays were given up.”
Frustration Boils Over
As the offense sputtered, emotions boiled over. Tennessee was flagged for four personal fouls, including two separate skirmishes that underscored just how tense and disjointed things have become.
The first dust-up came right before halftime, sparked by defensive lineman Arden Key. It handed Jacksonville 15 free yards and helped set up a Cam Little field goal to make it 18-3 at the break. The second incident, involving special teams, ended with backup safety Mike Brown getting ejected.
“A lot happened. Some stuff that I can’t really talk about because I’d get in trouble,” Key said postgame. “But there definitely were some extra things going on.”
Whatever those “extra things” were, they only added to the sense of a team that’s not just losing games-it’s losing its grip.
Dike’s Misstep, and a Missed Opportunity
Special teams didn’t help matters either. After Jacksonville took the lead on a Trevor Lawrence touchdown pass, Chimere Dike fumbled the ensuing kickoff. The Jaguars recovered at the Titans’ 35-yard line, and Lawrence made them pay with another scoring drive.
“I’ve just got to do a better job of double wrapping in traffic,” Dike said. “They did a good job of attacking the ball. I’m aware that when you get in spaces like that, you can’t put the offense or the defense in that position.”
Dike did have a 47-yard return later in the game that gave the Titans decent field position, but like everything else on Sunday, it didn’t lead to anything meaningful.
A Team in Need of Leadership
As the losses pile up-11 straight at home, a winless November, and a 1-11 record overall-veterans like Jeffery Simmons are already looking toward the future.
“Once we get through this season, we got to do a lot of accepting blame,” Simmons said. “Whoever comes in and is the new head coach, we need somebody that is going to lead this football team.
That’s it. We’ve got to figure it out.”
Simmons didn’t sugarcoat the state of the franchise.
“Nothing is clicking right now,” he added. “We’ve got five more games, and then we’ll get somebody in here. The culture and everything have to be better around here.”
Where Do the Titans Go From Here?
Sunday’s loss wasn’t just another mark in the L column-it was a reflection of a team that’s broken in more ways than one. The offense is inconsistent.
The defense shows flashes but can’t sustain stops. Penalties, turnovers, and mental lapses are piling up.
And perhaps most concerning of all, the frustration is starting to spill out in very visible ways.
There are five games left in the season. Five more opportunities to find something-anything-to build on heading into what’s sure to be a pivotal offseason.
But if Sunday was any indication, this team isn’t just looking for answers. It’s looking for leadership, direction, and a reset on a culture that’s clearly in need of repair.
Until then, the Titans are stuck in a holding pattern-one that’s becoming harder and harder to watch.