DETROIT – In the Motor City, the Titans were left spinning their wheels.
Turnovers, penalties and poor play on special teams doomed the Titans in this one, a lopsided 52-14 loss to the Detroit Lions here at Ford Field.
The Titans dropped to 1-6 with their third straight loss.
“We fight, our team plays hard,” Coach Brian Callahan said. “But we have to do a lot of things a lot better. Right now, it is not a product that people are excited to watch. We have to do something about that.
“We have not come anywhere close to playing football the way I think we’re capable of.”
There were actually some bright moments early in this one, including an early pass rush and some big plays on the offensive side of the football.
But those were hardly worth celebrating on a day when the Titans made life easy for the Lions, giving them short fields – and touchdowns – because of four turnovers, and a bunch of mistakes.
It all added up to another loss.
“Unfortunately, it’s the same story – giving them some easy ones once again, putting our defense on a short field,” said quarterback Mason Rudolph, who completed 22 of 38 passes for 266 yards and a touchdown in the contest, with a pair of interceptions.
“There were some good things in the first half, but none of it matters when you get your butt kicked.”
Receiver Calvin Ridley had 10 catches for 143 yards.
Running back Tony Pollard had 94 yards on 20 carries.
Edge rusher Arden Key had a pair of first half sacks, and three quarterback hits.
But, for the most part, it was a day filled with frustration.
“It’s the same thing every week,” Key said. “We don’t play complementary football. One week it might be the offense, one week it might be the defense, one week it might be special teams.
“We haven’t yet played complementary football in all three phases of the game.”
The game went back-and-forth early.
Rudolph, playing for the second straight week in place of an injured Will Levis, was intercepted by Lions linebacker Trevor Nowaske on the team’s fourth offensive play.
Two plays later, Lions running back David Montgomery scored on a seven-yard touchdown run to give the Lions a quick 7-0 lead.
The Titans quickly answered back on offense, as Rudolph connected on a pair of big plays – throws to tight end Josh Whyle and Ridley – before capping off a 75-yard touchdown drive with an 11-yard run to make it 7-7 with 4:07 left in the first quarter.
Ten seconds later, the Lions scored on a 70-yard touchdown run by Jahmyr Gibbs to make it 14-7, which was the score after the first quarter.
The Titans then scored less than a minute into the second quarter, on a five-yard touchdown pass from Rudolph to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, which capped off a seven-play, 70-yard drive, to make it 14-14.
Things went downhill from there, as the Lions scored 38 unanswered points to close out the game.
Following a 75-yard kickoff return by Khalil Dorsey, the Lions surged back ahead 21-14 on a nine-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jared Goff to tight end Brock Wright with 12:51 left in the second quarter.
The Lions extended their lead to 28-14 on a one-yard touchdown pass from Goff to receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, which followed another Rudolph interception that set Detroit up on the Tennessee 13-yard line.
Penalties and poor play on their coverage teams killed the Titans on this day, as two big plays (including a touchdown), were called back because of penalties.
A 64-yard punt return by Kalif Raymond set up another quick score for the Lions – a Montgomery pass to Sam LaPorta – to make it 35-14 with 2:18 left in the first half.
The Titans had a chance to cut the lead at the end of the first half, but four straight incompletions from the one-yard line ended a great scoring opportunity.
The Titans trailed the Lions 35-14 at the half despite outgaining them 285 to 133 in total yards. The Titans committed seven penalties for 55 yards in the first half.
Things got worse in the second half.
The Lions made it 42-14 in the third quarter on a 90-yard punt return for a touchdown by Raymond.
A seven-yard pass from Goff to Raymond, which followed a lost fumble by Ridley, made it 49-14 with 6:12 left in the third quarter.
A 51-yard field goal by kicker Jake Bates made it 52-14 Lions with 1:08 left in the third quarter.
The Titans actually outgained the Lions 416 to 225 in total yards, but they couldn’t overcome their mistakes. The Lions racked up 262 return yards, including 190 on five punt returns by Raymond, a former Titan.
“We came here, and tried to turn the season around, and get better,” Ridley said. “This, this is not good.”
The Titans return to action next Sunday against the Patriots at Nissan Stadium.
