Sluggish Second-Half Offense Sinks Titans

Twenty-two yards and one first down after halftime was not enough to hang on to a lead against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Maybe the biggest question the Tennessee Titans faced heading into Sunday night’s game at Kansas City was whether the team’s punchless offense could keep pace with the high-scoring Chiefs.

Through two quarters, there were encouraging signs.

Derrick Henry ripped through Kansas City’s line nine times for 92 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, rookie quarterback Malik Willis accounted for 127 yards of offense, and the Titans went into the locker room with a well-earned 14-9 lead.

But a complete offensive meltdown in the second half was the primary reason they fell 20-17 in overtime at Arrowhead Stadium. 

Tennessee produced all of one first down on eight possessions after halftime, totaling 22 yards on 27 plays and going zero-for-eight on third downs. The Titans mustered just three points over the game’s final 42:47, a field goal that came at the end of a four-play, eight-yard drive.

“There’s no moral victories, that’s the thing I want to make clear,” coach Mike Vrabel told media afterward. “We came over here to win, and that’s all we were thinking about doing.”

What happened to the offense that produced back-to-back touchdown drives of 74 and 79 drives in the first half?

One issue that cropped up repeatedly was penalties.

On the first drive of the second half, right guard Nate Davis was flagged for an ineligible man downfield penalty, putting the offense in a second-and-19 situation deep in Tennessee territory.

On the third drive, left guard Aaron Brewer was called for holding on first down, leaving the Titans in first-and-20 – and unable to take big risks with Willis in his second NFL start.

But there were missed opportunities in the passing game as well – sometimes because of Willis, sometimes because of his receivers.

When the Titans took possession at the Chiefs' 34-yard line following Roger McCreary’s interception, for instance, Willis missed an open Chig Okonkwo cutting across the field on first down. The Titans couldn’t pick up a single first down and had to rely on Randy Bullock’s field goal for their only second-half points.

On possessions later in the half, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine failed to win a downhill battle for one long pass attempt, and Cody Hollister never appeared to look for the ball when Willis threw a long pass in his direction down the left sideline. Titans wide receivers were targeted five times in the game but didn’t record a catch. Chris Conley dropped a catchable deep pass in the first half.

“(Willis) threw some really nice deep balls,” Vrabel said of the third-round draft pick, who was five-for-16 for 80 yards overall. Willis went two-for-nine for minus two yards after halftime.

“We went up and down with three of them that we’ve got to make. Again, we get into this drop-back game and that’s not where we want to play the game. But I know he (threw) some really nice balls that got up and down, that hopefully we can figure out a way to catch and come down with.”

The failure to make connections in the passing game allowed the Chiefs to sit on Henry in the run game, and Kansas City’s defense held the Titans’ workhorse to 23 yards on eight carries after halftime.

“We just didn’t execute in the second half,” Henry said. “We didn’t execute and make the plays that needed to be made … We were putting drives together (in the first half), getting points. We were executing when we needed to.”

The Chiefs also ramped up their pass rush in the second half, chasing Willis out of the pocket on numerous occasions and sacking him three times after halftime – including twice on the Titans’ overtime possession.

In the end, the Titans’ inability to score at least 20 points – for the fourth time in eight games this season – proved too much for a strong defensive effort to overcome. Tennessee kept Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense in check, holding Kansas City well below its league-best average of 31.9 points per game.

Had the Titans managed just a little more offensive production – maybe even just a little more offensive possession – they might have come away with one of the season’s bigger upsets.

Instead, it’s back to the drawing board for an offense that hopes to welcome back starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill (ankle injury) for next Sunday’s home game against Denver.

It’s possible the Titans could also see rookie wide receiver Treylon Burks back on the practice field this week. The 2022 first-round draft pick has missed four games on injured reserve, meaning he’s eligible to return to action if Burks has recovered sufficiently from turf toe.

“We’ll figure (how to improve offensively) tomorrow, try to get to work on it,” Vrabel said. “See (if we can find) ways to create some plays down the field, keep working at it.”