NASHVILLE, TENN. — The Titans showed considerable improvement from week one to week two but, in the end, the result was even harder to swallow as Jalen Hurts’ touchdown pass to Darius Cooper with :09 left lifted the Eagles to a 24-20 victory at Nissan Stadium Sunday.
Cooper was open in the back of the end zone after a miscommunication at the line of scrimmage by young defensive backs Marcus Harris and Micah Robinson. The throw capped a nine-play, 65-yard touchdown drive orchestrated by Hurts in the final 1:57 without a timeout. The former Super Bowl MVP completed a pair of third downs on the drive, including a 19-yard strike to DeVonta Smith down to the three-yard line to set up the game-winning toss.
The Titans had an opportunity to perhaps derail the drive two plays prior to that when Jeffery Simmons tied up half of the Eagles’ offensive line with his pass rush, creating a clear path for Jacob Martin to Hurts. But the veteran defensive end was unable to make the sack, with Hurts slithering away just enough to get outside of the tackle box and toss a weak ball just past the line of scrimmage to avoid an intentional grounding penalty.
It was far from the only missed opportunity for the Titans.
On Philadelphia’s previous possession Simmons hit Hurts as he threw, forcing a wobbler that was intercepted by Harris. Tennessee then drove the field, buoyed by a 41-yard completion from Cam Ward to Elic Ayomanor who hurdled a defender along the sideline. Then, facing third and 22, Tyjae Spears broke free on a draw to pick up 27 and set up first down and goal.
But Ward was sacked by Jalen Carter as he completed his playaction fake on the very next play and the Titans ran the ball on second and third downs, settling for a 33-yard Joey Slye field goal to take a 20-17 lead.
It was the second time Tennessee had settled for three points instead of seven inside the red zone. Just before halftime the Titans had first down at the Philadelphia 18 after two more explosive plays from Ayomanor and Spears, who hauled in 28- and 27-yard passes respectively.
But Tony Pollard was bottled up on a first down run and J.C. Latham committed a false start before second down. After an incompletion on second down, the Titans called a third and 14 draw and took the field goal to go to the halftime locker room down 14-10.
Meanwhile, the Eagles, backed by thousands of green-clad fans that filled the Broadway bars all weekend and the majority of the Nissan Stadium seats Sunday, got the plays they needed to win.
Hurts responded from a first possession interception in the end zone, which Amani Hooker returned 92 yards to set up one of two Ward rushing touchdowns on the day, to throw for 264 yards and two touchdowns.
He led four scoring drives in all and responded to his fourth quarter pick with poise and precision on that final game-winning march.
A week after showing little life in a 23-10 loss to the Jets, the Titans showed more of the fight they hope becomes their calling card under Robert Saleh. But winning in the NFL ultimately comes down to making plays. And the Titans couldn’t finish the drives that could’ve given them a bigger cushion in those closing minutes or get the stop they needed to.
Instead, it was Hurts, Smith and Cooper that came up with the big plays in the clutch as the Eagles gave the thousands of fans that made the trip to Nashville for the weekend a reason to celebrate deep into the night.
