Cam Ward had the chance to have his signature moment. A game-winning drive to provide the Titans their first victory of the season and quiet the growing number of critics of his play.
Technically, Ward could have had four chances to lead the offense to a game-winning touchdown against the Giants Sunday at MetLife Stadium. It was first and goal at the seven after Tennessee had driven 70 yards in the final 3:03.
But with no one initially open, Ward departed the pocket and rolled to his left, then lofted a pass intended to reach the back of the end zone and Elic Ayomanor.
It never got there. Jevon Holland leaped to snag the ball near the goalline to preserve a 12-7 win.
“I think I just should’ve threw it higher,” Ward said of his costly interception after the game. “Elic did a great job winning the scramble drill for me. But I think if I threw it higher it would’ve been a different result.”
It was a bad pass, yes. But maybe a worse decision from the most important decision maker on the field for the Titans. Ward was attempting to salvage a broken play – something most quarterbacks loathe, yet he seems to relish – by throwing across his body to the back of the end zone. It was a difficult throw, and one that is probably best not to throw with :24 left, two timeouts and potentially three more downs at your disposal.
It is a quarterback truth that Ward briefly acknowledged at the end of his diagnosis of the fatal play, noting that if he didn’t try to make that play he, “probably (would’ve) thrown it out of bounds and live another play.”
Ward tried to make the high reward, but equally high-risk play and the resulting interception dropped the Titans to 0-3. It also cost a young quarterback the chance to post a game-winning fourth quarter drive that could rally the locker room and the fanbase around him.
But Ward disagreed with an assessment that his decision to attempt the throw was reckless, again stating that he just needed to throw a better ball and the result to the play, and the game, would be different.
Tennessee had a chance to win this game despite fumbling the opening kickoff and having five straight three and outs in the first half before finally getting a first down on Ward’s pass to Wan’Dale Robinson with 1:18 left in the first half.
The Titans did not score until Ward and Robinson connected on a four-yard touchdown with 5:35 to play, though there was another missed opportunity late in the third quarter. After driving 68 yards in nine plays down to the New York seven-yard line, the Titans came up empty on three cracks at the end zone. Ward’s second down pass would have been intercepted if it did not go right through Dru Phillips’ hands. On third down, Ward had Carnell Tate breaking open on another scramble drill but missed him badly on what should have been a touchdown. The Giants defended the fourth down play well and Ward’s pass towards Gunnar Helm fell incomplete as the Titans came up empty.
Missed opportunities were the story of the day for the Titans, who lost a second straight game in the final minute. It was Titans defense failed to stop Jalen Hurts and the Eagles drive for the game-winning touchdown last week. This time it was Ward who threw away a chance to get Robert Saleh his first win as Titans coach.
But Saleh made it clear after the game he is not even considering sitting his young second-year quarterback down as the Titans prepare for the 2-1 Ravens next week in Baltimore. It is up to Ward, the offense and the entire team to continue to get better and give them more chances to win these games.
But Ward is now 3-17 as a NFL starter and the questions about his ability to be this franchise’s much-needed answer at quarterback will continue to mount with each additional missed opportunity.
“The part that keeps me going the most is knowing I have another opportunity to win a game next week,” Ward said. “We have another opportunity as a team to prove it to ourselves who we really are.”
Ward and the Titans need to grab the next chance they get because opportunities in this league are not unlimited. And the hole for this season keeps getting deeper, and it is still not clear that they have the right quarterback to help them dig out of it.
