Ravens 20, Titans 13: What We Learned

Homefield advantage was not what Tennessee hoped, flukey plays don't always turn out well at this time of year and a couple other observations.

NASHVILLE – Now we know.

The Tennessee Titans won’t go farther in the playoffs this season than they did in the last one. They won’t win the Super Bowl in their third year under coach Mike Vrabel. They have not moved completely beyond the mastery that the Baltimore Ravens too often have had over them.

All of that was assured Sunday when the Titans fell 20-13 to the Ravens in an NFL wild card contest at Nissan Stadium.

Here are a few more things we learned …

• You can’t trust the regular season: Through the first month and a half of the 2020 campaign, Tennessee was one of the NFL’s best teams. It started 5-0, which set up a memorable mid-October showdown of unbeaten teams with Pittsburgh at Nissan Stadium. Ultimately, the Titans finished 11-5, won the AFC South and earned the right to host a playoff game, the last of which players and coaches maintained was critical to success at this time of year.

None of it mattered.

Tennessee got off to a good start but blew a 10-point lead and is done one week into the postseason. Each of its previous two trips to the playoffs included road games – and wins – in the wild card round.

In fact, a year ago the Titans were the last team to qualify for the postseason and the only wild card in either conference with fewer than 10 victories. Yet they went to New England and brought down the curtain on Tom Brady’s storied time with that franchise. Then they went to Baltimore and dispatched the Ravens, who were unquestionably the best team in the regular season.

“My disappointment is obviously for the players who put so much into it that are beat up, that play this game far less than anywhere close to 100 percent, that battle and compete out there on the field,” Vrabel said. “I'm disappointed for them. You know, you don't like to see the people that you care about frustrated or disappointed, and certainly we all are.”

• It is not always good when the quarterback catches his own pass in a playoff game: The final play before the two-minute warning in the first half was an odd one. Ryan Tannehill attempted a screen pass to his left, but Baltimore’s Jihad Ward batted the ball right back to the quarterback. Tannehill caught it but could not elude Ward, who dropped him for a 10-yard loss. With that, the Titans’ last chance to score before halftime effectively vanished (after two ensuing plays, they punted).

“Just got to knock that thing down,” Tannehill said. “Just instinct, ball coming at me, I caught it, but obviously knock it down and live for second and 10 and we still have an opportunity to go score. Put yourself in long yardage situation, then we miss the second down play by a couple inches on the sideline, and now you're in third and forever. Definitely hurt us.”

It was in stark contrast to three years earlier, when Marcus Mariota experienced a similar situation in a wild card game at Kansas City. Mariota turned that into one of the more memorable moments of his time in Tennessee, a 6-yard touchdown reception that started a comeback from an 18-point deficit in a game the Titans ultimately won 22-21.

• Sacks are possible: Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is one of the most elusive players in the NFL, yet the Titans sacked him five times.

That was a season-high for a defense that struggled to get to opposing quarterbacks all season – and allowed Jackson to rush for 136 yards and a touchdown in this contest. It also built on a promising end to the regular season when Tennessee had four sacks against Houston’s Deshaun Watson. Before that, the defense had one sack in four games and no more than two in seven straight.

One player was not responsible for all of that pressure either. Four, led by outside linebacker Harold Landry with two, got to Jackson. DaQuan Jones, Matt Dickerson and Brooks Reed notched one apiece. Reed had one in two regular-season appearances. Dickerson had none in 10 games played.

“Lamar’s a great player, so he’s going to get his at some point,” Landry said. “I thought we went out there, we tried to execute the gameplan to the best of our abilities and I just thought guys were flying around. I just thought we played our butts off.”

• Henry can be singled out: There is no question that Tannehill and running back Derrick Henry have been a potent combination since the former became the Titans’ starter in Week 7 of the 2019 season. Henry in particular has benefitted as he has become a two-time NFL rushing champion, a 2,000-yard rusher, a two-time Pro Bowler and a first-team All-Pro.

Baltimore proved, however, that it is also a combination that can be cracked. The Ravens limited Henry to 40 yards on 18 carries and never let him get loose to showcase his rare combination of size and speed.

His longest run of the contest was for eight yards, which happened early in the fourth quarter. The last time Henry went an entire game without at least one run of 10 yards or more was Oct. 3, 2019 at Denver – Tannehill’s last game as the backup quarterback.

“He’s the hardest running back I’ve ever had to tackle,” Ravens defensive end Derek Wolfe said. “So, you’ve got to bring it every time you tackle him. … For us to accomplish that kind of goal against a [running] back like that, who just got 2,000 yards rushing [this season], that’s a testament to show you what kinds of guys we have up front, what kinds of guys we have on this defense, and what kinds of guys we have on this team.”