The Tennessee Titans needed every bit of chaos, every defensive takeaway and every clean swing of Joey Slye’s leg to pull off a 26-20 comeback over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 6.
What looked dead at halftime turned into Tennessee’s first win of the 2026 season. The Titans were staring at a 13-0 deficit and had produced almost nothing before the break. Then the second half started tilting their way, with the defense forcing three turnovers and special teams making huge plays in a turnaround that included 20 unanswered points.
It still began with familiar frustration. Chimere Dike gave the Titans a spark on the opening kickoff, getting across the 30-yard line, but a holding penalty dragged the offense back to the 10.
Then Daniel Bellinger dropped a Cam Ward pass on the first play from scrimmage. Ward later bailed the Titans out with a savvy play on third down to avoid another three-and-out, but the drive still ended with a punt after crossing midfield.
Robert Saleh’s decision-making came under the microscope again after Amani Hooker’s interception. A delay of game penalty put Tennessee in a hole, and after Wan’Dale Robinson appeared to convert a short catch before replay assist ruled it short, the Titans debated going for it on 4th-and-inches.
Saleh ultimately punted from inside his own 20, and two plays later Jonathan Taylor turned a screen into a 38-yard gain. That sequence set up a Colts touchdown.
The opening score came with missed tackles and costly mistakes scattered through the series. Nazir Stackhouse missed Taylor at the line on the big screen pass, and Jacob Martin, who had already drawn an offside penalty on the drive, missed a tackle on a Josh Downs run that set up 1st-and-goal from the 1.
Saleh stayed conservative on the next possession too. Tennessee faced 3rd-and-4 from its own 40 and ran a delayed inside handoff to Tony Pollard for three yards, leaving 4th-and-1 from the 43.
The Titans punted again, and Tommy Townsend’s kick resulted in a touchback. Two conservative punts in a row, and both ended with Colts points.
The offense had no answers in the first half. Brian Daboll’s group managed just 64 yards and no points before intermission. Pollard was held under three yards per carry, and Ward went 4-of-7 with an interception.
The Titans’ defense did provide a jolt to start the second half. Jeffery Simmons stripped Jonathan Taylor and recovered the fumble.
Tennessee still could not fully capitalize, though. After two Ward passes were batted down, Carnell Tate made a strong high-point catch on third-and-long, but Ward later missed an open Calvin Ridley on another third down and Joey Slye had to settle for a field goal.
Special teams, for better and worse, remained right in the middle of everything. Chimere Dike’s opening kickoff return was erased by a holding penalty on Truman Jones, and Jones later ran into the punter in the third quarter to hand the Colts a first down.
Still, the third quarter belonged to Tennessee’s defense. The Titans forced two turnovers in the period, one on Simmons’ fumble play and another on a Cor’Dale Flott interception.
The offense only turned those takeaways into field goals, but the other Colts possession in the quarter ended with a punt that Dike ripped back 58 yards. That same stretch also featured Carnell Tate’s first career touchdown catch for Indianapolis.
Then came the special teams sequence that changed the game. Dike’s 58-yard punt return helped set up a Titans touchdown that tied things at 13-13.
On the next Colts punt, linebacker James Williams got a block, and Femi Oladejo scooped it and scored to give Tennessee a 20-13 lead. That was the moment the comeback fully took shape, with 20 straight second-half points.
Indianapolis did not go quietly. The Colts answered with an eight-play, 73-yard drive in the fourth quarter, stacking gains of 13, 14, 19 and 9 yards before tying the game at 20-20.
But Slye finished the job. He drilled three field goals after halftime, including a 56-yarder, and then buried a 49-yarder near the two-minute warning to put Tennessee ahead 23-20. That was the winner, and he added a fourth field goal for good measure.
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It was the kind of turnaround that can linger in a locker room, especially for a team trying to get its footing early in the year. Tennessees 26-20 win was its first of the season, and while the offense did just enough, it was the hidden yards and the timely stops that changed the script against Indianapolis and gave the Titans a result fans will remember. [Read more 🡒]