In seeking to make progress despite suffering one loss after another, Titans rookie quarterback Cam Ward took some encouraging steps in Sunday’s 38-14 defeat at Indianapolis.
But the bottom line was that the No. 1 overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft guided his team to just two touchdowns, an all-too-common occurrence for a Titans offense that ranks last in the NFL in scoring — averaging a meager 13.8 points per contest.
“We had some positive moments, but it wasn’t enough to win the game,” Ward told reporters. “I have to do more. I have to be more accurate with the football, and we have to consistently move the ball up and down the field and end with points.
“I think the last couple weeks we’ve been better moving the ball, but we have to end [drives] with points. If we don’t score points, we’re not going to be in a lot of games.”
Ward finished the day 22-for-38 for 259 yards, one touchdown, one interception and a 76.5 quarterback rating.
The passing yardage total was the second highest total of Ward’s eight-game career, and it marked the third time in four weeks he’d thrown for more than 250 yards — a total he’d failed to reach in any of his first four contests.
Ward completed eight passes of at least 15 yards — without the benefit of Calvin Ridley — and his 13 passing first downs marked his second-best total of the season.
But as has been the case at times previously this season, Ward produced some of his better numbers after the game had been effectively decided.
He guided the Titans on back-to-back drives of 59 and 67 yards in the fourth quarter, with the first possession ending on a Ward interception and the second on a Tyjae Spears touchdown run.
The interception came on a fourth-and-16 play from the Colts’ 16-yard line, and Ward had no real option aside from ripping a pass into the end zone and hoping for the best.
Instead, it wound up as a sixth interception in six games, as Ward now has totaled 11 turnovers in eight contests this season.
Is there concern, Ward was asked, that all the losing is stunting his growth?
“I don’t think it’s stunting it,” Ward said. “Whether you win or lose, you’re going to get better and you also got to get coached up on certain things every game. Nobody in the NFL is going to play a perfect game each and every night. So I just stay right here at the same tone, never try to get too high or too low.”
We took a look at interim coach Mike McCoy’s decisions to punt instead of choosing to go for first downs on a couple of fourth downs in a separate article, so here are nine other takeaways:
Sacks pile up: Ward came into the contest as the NFL’s leader in most times sacked, as his total of 30 was eight more than any other quarterback.
That total now stands at 34, after the Colts took Ward down four times, meaning he’s been sacked 15 times in the last three games alone.
Some of the sacks appeared to be attributable to breakdowns on the Titans’ offensive line, like the third-quarter play in which DeForest Buckner blew right past Tennessee center Lloyd Cushenberry to sack Ward on fourth-and-4 in Indianapolis territory.
But Ward still has a tendency to hold the ball too long at times, looking to make a play instead of taking the easy way out.
A case in point occurred midway through the fourth quarter, with the Titans facing third-and-8 from the Colts’ 8-yard line. Ward faded back in the pocket, trying to spin clear of heavy pressure instead of simply throwing the ball away.
He was sacked for an eight-yard loss, and on fourth-and-16, Ward threw his interception on the following play.
Taylor tramples Titans again: Hard as it may be to believe, Indianapolis running back Jonathan Taylor hasn’t always run roughshod over the Titans.
In his first four seasons, Taylor went head-to-head with the Titans six times, and he never gained more than 70 rushing yards.
In one 2022 game, Taylor ran 20 times and gained 42 yards, averaging a whopping 2.1 yards per contest.
But all that’s changed in Taylor’s last three games against the Titans, as he’s carried a combined 58 times for 473 yards and eight rushing touchdowns, averaging 8.2 yards per attempt.
In Sunday’s win over the Titans, Taylor carried just 12 times, yet still piled up 153 two yards and two touchdowns — one of which was an 80-yard romp down the left sideline after safety Xavier Woods took a bad angle on the play.
Taylor was also credited with a 19-yard touchdown reception when he took the tiniest of quick forward flips from quarterback Daniel Jones into the end zone.
“The run defense … you got to be able to stop the run,” Titans interim head coach Mike McCoy said. “We understood that when we came in here, against a really good team that runs the ball.”
Dike delivers again: Titans rookie receiver Chimere Dike has certainly come into his own in Tennessee’s last two games.
The former Florida standout, who caught just nine passes for 26 yards in his first six games this season, posted career highs of seven receptions (on eight targets) and 93 yards against the Colts.
That performance came a week after Dike caught four passes (on four targets) for 70 yards and his first NFL touchdown against New England, giving Dike 11 catches for 173 yards and a TD in his last two contests.
Dike wasn’t the only productive 2025 fourth-round pick for the Titans against the Colts, as wide receiver Elic Ayomanor totaled four catches for 52 yards, while tight end Gunnar Helm posted two catches for 23 yards — including his first NFL touchdown catch, which came on a one-yard reception.
On the downside, Ayomanor failed to come down with a couple of Ward passes that he appeared to get two hands on.
Still, the three rookie pass catchers finished with a combined 13 receptions for 167 yards and one touchdown.
Missed Ayomanor opportunity: Speaking of Ayomanor, he and Ward failed to connect on what would have been a long gain — and potentially a touchdown — midway through the second quarter, when the Titans trailed 17-7.
On third-and-14 from the Tennessee 27-yard line, Ayomanor was wide open behind the Colts’ defense deep downfield, but Ward’s pass sailed yards past him.
Television replays seemed to show that Ayomanor had slowed his pace late in the route, but Ward took responsibility for the incompletion.
“I just think I didn’t throw a catchable ball for him,” Ward said. “I got an unbelievable relationship with `E.’ He’s one of the first people in the building every day and the last one to leave. He watches the same amount of film. I got to put the ball in his radius for him to make plays for us. I think if I’d did that at that time, it’d have been a touchdown.”
Slye’s numbers slip compared to Folk: Titans kicker Joey Slye missed wide right on a 58-yard field-goal attempt just before the end of the first half, dropping him to 15-for-20 overall this season.
It was Slye’s ninth attempt from 50-plus yards this season, and he’s connected on six.
Slye was tied for second in the NFL with four missed field goal attempts overall heading into Sunday’s game.
The Titans during the offseason chose to let Nick Folk walk as a free agent, despite the fact he made a combined 50-of-52 attempts — including 11-of-12 from 50-plus yards — in two seasons for Tennessee.
The 40-year-old Folk is having a great season for the New York Jets, as he’s connected on 17-of-17 field goal attempts through eight games, including 5-of-5 from 50-plus yards.
Sacks without Simmons: Even without Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons and his team-high 4.5 sacks, the Titans continued their recent trend of taking down opposing quarterbacks.
The Titans sacked Jones three times, an impressive total considering Jones had only been sacked six times in the Colts’ first seven contests.
T’Vondre Sweat, Roger McCreary and Dre’Mont Jones each recorded takedowns, giving the Titans — who began the year with a combined two sacks in their first three games — 14 in their last five contests (and seven in the last two outings).
Sweat’s sack was his second in three games this season, one more than he’d produced in 17 games as a rookie last year.
Jones’ sack gave him one in each of his last three contests, the first time he’d accomplished that in his seven-year career.
More special teams penalties: The Titans committed a pair of special teams penalties in Sunday’s loss.
That means Tennessee now ranks first in the NFL in special teams penalty yardage (123 yards) and second in the league in special teams penalties (16).
Rookie cornerback Marcus Harris committed the first mistake, as he was penalized for an illegal blindside block on a kickoff — which meant the Titans started at their own 15-yard-line instead of their 29.
Defensive back Kendell Brooks made the second mistake, as he was flagged for holding on a kick return in the third quarter. That penalty wiped out a 39-yard return by Dike, meaning the Titans started at their own 17-yard-line instead of at their 42.
Titans special teams coordinator John Fassel said earlier this month he was not concerned with the mounting number of special teams penalties.
“I think there’s an element of our special teams competitiveness and play style that is the most important thing,” Fassel said at the time. “Sometimes there’s a little bit of cost to that, and I don’t want the competitiveness or play style to drop because we’re trying to be concerned about [not] committing penalties.”
Spears steps up: Running back Tyjae Spears put together the most productive of his four games this season, finishing with nine carries for 59 yards and one touchdown, while adding three catches for 23 yards.
Spears’ 82 total yards of offense marked the fourth most he’d accumulated in his 33-game career, and his 59 rushing yards ranked as his third best career day.
Most of Spears’ total on the ground came on a 41-yard run in the second quarter, a scamper around right end that preceded Helm’s one-yard touchdown catch on the next play.
Spears played 37 snaps to 33 for starter Tony Pollard, per Pro Football Focus. Pollard ran 11 times for 44 yards and caught one pass for nine yards.
Injury update: A Titans team that began the game without Simmons, Ridley (hamstring), edge rusher Arden Key (quad) and cornerback L’Jarius Sneed (quad) took some more hits against the Colts.
Edge rusher Ali Gaye (knee) left the game in the first half and did not return.
Starting cornerback Darrell Baker left the game in the second half and did not return, going into concussion protocol.
Woods (hamstring) left the game in the third quarter.