The optimistic Titans fans looked at the team’s comeback win in Arizona last Sunday as a potential building block, the kind of game that might breathe life into an ugly start to the season.
The pessimistic Titans fan saw it as more of a gift, a contest Tennessee had no business winning without significant help from a bumbling Cardinals squad.
Turns out the Titans’ glass was indeed half empty.
One week after an energized fourth-quarter comeback in Arizona, the Titans fell right back into their tailspin during Sunday’s 20-10 loss in Las Vegas, failing to show much of anything as head coach Brian Callahan’s overall record fell to 4-19.
Cam Ward (No. 1) of the Tennessee Titans looks to pass the ball against the Las Vegas Raiders during the second quarter in the game at Allegiant Stadium on Oct. 12, 2025, in Las Vegas.
Candice Ward
The defeat meant the Titans dropped to 0-9 over the past three seasons when attempting to win two straight games — 0-5 in Mike Vrabel’s last year of 2023, 0-3 in Callahan’s first season last year and 0-1 this season.
The last time the Titans (1-5) won two straight games was 2022, when they defeated Denver 17-10 on Nov. 13 and beat Green Bay 27-17 four days later.
“We should be mad,” Callahan told reporters after the game. “We should be frustrated because this is where we’re at. The expectation is we have to find a way to get better, and we were hoping to be better than we were so far through the first six games.”
The matchup against Las Vegas seemed an ideal opportunity for the Titans to snap their three-year stretch of one-and-done victories.
The Raiders (2-4) had lost four straight contests, had surrendered at least 40 points in two of their last three games and were coming off a 40-6 thumping by Indianapolis. Las Vegas quarterback Geno Smith had thrown an NFL high nine interceptions in his first five games. The Raiders were averaging 16.6 points per game (30th in the NFL) and allowing 27.8 (25th in the NFL).
But it felt like the Titans’ 10-0 halftime deficit was all but insurmountable, and the Raiders realistically ended all suspense when they turned a Cam Ward turnover into a 17-0 advantage early in the third quarter.
“I never question the way our team fights,” Callahan said. “We fight like crazy. We want to win more games. We have to play better to win games. You can play better and be satisfied with the effort and how guys approach their job, but [I’m] certainly frustrated we can’t make the plays more consistently to win the football game.”
Flat practice, flat game: Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons said he saw the seeds of a letdown beginning last week in practice, when the team was less than motivated in the lead-up to the Las Vegas contest.
“Just being honest, this was probably our worst week of practices,” Simmons said. “We came out flat Thursday … Today was bad football. We didn’t play good today at all.”
Added Ward: “Yeah, [Simmons] not lying. Came out flat and that’s the way we played today. We can’t let that carry over. Got a good team coming in next week at home and we got to try to get a win.”
Vrabel, Patriots on tap: The Titans next Sunday will play their first home game since Sept. 21.
But it comes with quite a twist.
The Oct. 19 contest at Nissan Stadium will feature the return of Vrabel, who will visit Nashville with a surprising New England Patriots team that is 4-2 and sits just half a game back of first-place Buffalo in the AFC East.
The Patriots’ 25-19 win at New Orleans was the team’s third straight. But New England — which tied last year’s entire win total with the victory — has already reached the point where the team was disappointed by winning with a so-so performance.
“We will never ever get to the point where we’re not going to celebrate wins,” Vrabel told the Patriots after the game, per the team’s website. “But I like where we’re headed … I can tell that you’re not satisfied. But I’m still going to demand that we celebrate this shit for a couple hours.”
Vrabel called for all the Patriots to get game balls, and then gave the slightest nod toward next Sunday’s contest.
“Now we got to go on the road, and let’s keep this shit going,” said Vrabel, who recorded a 54-45 regular season record with the Titans.
The Patriots have opened as 6.5-point favorites in the game, per the BetOnline website.
First-half flailing continues: When the Titans marched to the locker room trailing 10-0 against the Raiders, it marked the second time in the last three weeks the team had been shut out over the opening two quarters.
Hard as it may be to believe, the Titans have scored a combined 34 points in six first halves this season, averaging 5.7 points in the first half per game.
The Titans have managed all of one first-half touchdown this season, along with nine field goals.
In the loss to the Raiders, Tennessee totaled 81 yards and five first downs in the game’s opening 30 minutes.
“We didn’t play well on offense, really, in any way shape or form,” Callahan said. “But yeah, it is what it is. It’s disappointing all the way around.”
Added Ward: “We can’t keep starting games off slow. I can’t keep starting off slow. Just got to start fast and [maintain that] throughout the game.”
Latham struggles in return: JC Latham’s return to the lineup for the first time since Week One did not go well.
The team’s starting right tackle had missed the last four games with a hip injury, and was immediately hit with a huge challenge, as the Titans’ 2024 first-round pick lined up against Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby — a four-time Pro Bowler — for most of the contest.
Crosby wound up with a pair of sacks, several pressures and three quarterback hits in the contest.
On a Devin White sack of Ward in the first half, Latham appeared to be guilty of not picking up the rusher closest to the inside, allowing White a free run at quarterback.
On another sack of Ward, Latham couldn’t keep Crosby away from Ward despite the fact he got help from tight end Chig Okonkwo, who delivered a pretty good chip block on Crosby.
Six pack of sacks: The Titans had appeared to be making gradual progress in pass protection entering the contest.
After allowing a combined 15 sacks in the first three weeks, Tennessee had surrendered just two in the team’s previous pair of games — against Houston and Arizona.
“We’ve settled in,” Callahan said Friday. “We’ve played with better technique. We’ve played within the scheme better. We’ve played with more continuity and there’s been better communication.”
All that went out the window against Las Vegas, as Ward was sacked six times — matching the season high set in Week 1 at Denver.
Latham did struggle, as referenced above, but he wasn’t alone.
On one play, it appeared poor communication between center Lloyd Cushenberry and Kevin Zeitler led to another free rusher charging at Ward.
Touchdown overturned: Trailing 3-0 early in the second quarter, the Titans briefly thought they’d taken the lead, when middle linebacker Cody Barton scooped up what was initially ruled a Geno Smith fumble and carried it 43 yards into the end zone for a touchdown.
It appeared to be a borderline call, one difficult to overturn.
But the replay official did indeed overturn the ruling on the field, calling it an incompletion and allowing the Raiders to punt the ball away.
“That’s a huge momentum swing,” Callahan said. “I thought we’d scored on defense. We needed our defense to step up for us, and we were hoping we could find something like that to spur the scoring in the game … I thought [the call] was pretty dang close, and it would have been a huge play for us.”
Ridley, Oladejo injured: A week after posting a breakout game this season, Titans receiver Calvin Ridley left Sunday’s contest with a hamstring injury in the first half and did not return.
Ridley had caught one pass for 18 yards before the injury.
A team captain and seven-year veteran, Ridley struggled through his first four games, totaling just 10 catches for 141 yards. But he turned things around against Arizona, totaling five receptions for 131 yards (26.2-yard average).
In Ridley’s absence, Van Jefferson led the Titans with 75 receiving yards on four receptions.
“Calvin’s an impact player,” Callahan said. “He helps us a ton … So, yeah, certainly not having him out there is going to be felt, and [the other receivers] had some spots where they played well. I thought Van stepped up and made some plays for us. But missing one of your better players is always going to be hurtful.”
Oladejo, the team’s second round draft pick in April, suffered a calf injury in the third quarter and did not return to the contest. He’d made an impact, totaling three tackles — two for loss — and hitting Smith once.
The Titans were already without one edge rusher, Arden Key, who missed the contest with a quad injury.
Barton’s second pick: Barton gave the Titans some brief spark early in the fourth quarter when he picked off a Smith pass intended for Michael Mayer at the Tennessee 20-yard line.
The Titans trailed 17-3 at that point, meaning a touchdown drive would have cut the Raiders’ lead to one score with plenty of time still remaining on the clock.
Instead, the Titans gained one yard on three plays and punted.
But for Barton, the interception was his second of the season, making him the first Titans linebacker since David Long (2022) with more than one pick in a season. Barton is the only NFL linebacker to record at least two interceptions in both the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
Simmons’ sack streak continues: Consistently one of the bright spots on a very bad team, Simmons had another impactful performance against Las Vegas.
The three-time Pro Bowler recorded a sack for the third straight game, giving him 4.5 sacks for the season — the most among NFL defensive tackles.
Simmons’ sack total in six contests this season is just one-half a sack fewer than he totaled in 16 games in 2024.
Overall, Simmons finished with six tackles, one sack, two tackles for loss and a pair of quarterback hits. He delivered the second of those quarterback hits on a fourth-quarter play, which is one of the big reasons Smith was picked off by Barton.