{"id":654332,"date":"2026-01-04T22:36:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T22:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/654332\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T22:36:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T22:36:14","slug":"5-observations-from-titans-week-18-loss-to-jaguars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/654332\/","title":{"rendered":"5 observations from Titans\u2019 Week 18 loss to Jaguars"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.musiccitymiracles.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tennessee Titans<\/a> were defeated 41-7 by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bigcatcountry.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jacksonville Jaguars<\/a> in Sunday\u2019s Week 18 regular-season finale. The Jaguars won the AFC South and the Titans finished 3-14 for a second consecutive season. A massive offseason now begins this week by kickstarting the head coaching search.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Sunday represented the final opportunity to evaluate Cam Ward as a rookie quarterback. The No. 1 overall pick started hot, going 3-of-3 for 52 yards on Tennessee\u2019s opening possession. Ward capped that drive with a touchdown run, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.musiccitymiracles.com\/tennessee-titans-injuries\/63400\/cam-ward-injured-on-rushing-touchdown\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">but injured his shoulder on the play<\/a>. Sadly, he was removed from the game and was later seen with a sling on his shoulder. All in all, it was a successful rookie year given the lackluster surroundings and circumstances. The Titans must now hire a head coach who has a plan to develop him as a sophomore.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Titans were without their top three safeties. Kevin Winston Jr. and Xavier Woods are on IR, and Amani Hooker sat out with an injury. That forced Dennard Wilson to play the likes of Kendell Brooks, Jerrick Reed II and Kaiir Elam in the secondary. Trevor Lawrence and Liam Coen\u2019s offense unsurprisingly took advantage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Titans clinched a top-five selection in the 2026 NFL Draft. They entered Sunday at fourth overall. Their final draft positioning will be determined on Sunday evening. Prospects like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.musiccitymiracles.com\/tennessee-titans-draft\/63351\/titans-draft-pair-of-pass-rushers-dominate-in-college-football-playoff\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rueben Bain Jr. and David Bailey<\/a> have impressed in recent weeks, and the Titans will be picking early enough to come away with a difference maker at EDGE or wide receiver.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Veteran quarterback Brandon Allen replaced Ward in the lineup. It\u2019s clear Allen was a Brian Callahan favorite who doesn\u2019t belong on an NFL roster. He completed 17-of-30 passing attempts for 71 yards, zero touchdowns, and a pick-six interception.<\/p>\n<p>Jeffery Simmons finishes the season strong<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Jeffery Simmons recorded a sack on Lawrence\u2019s first possession. It was a career-high 11th sack of the season for the Pro Bowl defensive tackle. Simmons continued playing hard despite the Titans\u2019 season going wayward a long time ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tennessee Titans were defeated 41-7 by the Jacksonville Jaguars in Sunday\u2019s Week 18 regular-season finale. The Jaguars&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":654333,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[7,88576,89925,2413],"class_list":{"0":"post-654332","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-tennessee-titans-analysis","10":"tag-tennessee-titans-discussion","11":"tag-tennessee-titans-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115839224248384958","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}