Must-See Play: Josh Kalu's INT

Cornerback Roger McCreary deserves an assist for the play that ended the defense's long turnover drought.

Kiyoshi Mio / USA Today Sports

It took two for the Tennessee Titans defense to end its takeaway drought.

Defensive back Joshua Kalu recorded his first career interception on the next-to-last play of the first half Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers. But he did not do it alone.

Rookie cornerback Roger McCreary actually got his hands on the ball first, but the second-round draft pick out of Auburn would have come down out of bounds had he held on to it all the way to the ground. So, on his way down, he tossed the ball to Kalu, who caught it and drug his feet to complete the interception.

"A fantastic play," coach Mike Vrabel said. "...Great awareness."

Guess which player got the INT 🤔 #TENvsLAC pic.twitter.com/MXdFwpoBJh

— NFL (@NFL) December 18, 2022

It was the first of two takeaways on the day for the defense, but Tennessee still came up short on the scoreboard, 17-14.

The last Titans’ takeaway before Kalu's pick was Nov. 13 against the Denver Broncos when Terrance Mitchell intercepted Russell Wilson with 11 seconds to play. That preserved a 17-10 victory that day.

In between, Titans’ opponents fumbled five times but recovered all of them. Opposing quarterbacks threw 176 passes without an interception.

The Titans came into the game minus-2 in takeaways for the season.

“When we have opportunities, we’ve got to make them,” defensive coordinator Shane Bowen said on Thursday. “The past two weeks, we dropped two [interceptions]. One ended up being seven [points] for (Jacksonville). That’s a major turning point in that game.

“So, we’re harping. It’s one thing to make them earn it. But something that goes into making them earn it is we’ve got to make the plays when they’re there for us. We’ve got to take advantage of our opportunities.”

Kalu, in his 41st career game, became the ninth different player on Tennessee’s defense with an interception this season. McCreary is among the other eight, and linebacker David Long was the only one with more than one.

Justin Herbert’s pass was intended for wide receiver Mike Williams as the Chargers looked to take the lead on the way into halftime. Even an incomplete pass would have allowed Los Angeles to attempt a 43-yard field goal.

Instead, the teams went to the locker room tied 7-7. That was the fewest first-half points by a Tennessee opponent since Green Bay managed just six on Nov. 17.

Kevin Byard added a second interception, his second of the season, with 5:23 to play in the third quarter.

It marked the first time this season that Herbert threw multiple interceptions in a game. He entered the game with a streak of 162 passes without an interception. Byard's was the second in 13 throws.