Quick Slants: Foreman a Formidable Fill-In, Molden Knows Fumbles and More

Tennessee's defense got the best of Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in an area at which he was the NFL's best.

Christopher Hanewinckel/USA Today Sports

NASHVILLE – The big news on Sunday was the fact that the Tennessee Titans clinched a second straight division title and moved to the top of the AFC playoff seeding with their 34-3 rout of the Miami Dolphins on Sunday at Nissan Stadium.

A lot of little things happened throughout the contest, though, that led to the result.

Here is a look at some of the more notable ones:

• With a career-high 132 rushing yards on 26 carries, D’Onta Foreman has 497 rushing yards for the season. Not only is that a career-high for Foreman, it is the most by Tennessee’s second-leading rusher since 2018, when Dion Lewis backed up Derrick Henry with 517. With one game remaining, it seems likely Foreman will top that number.

Tennessee added Foreman at the start of November when Henry was sidelined by a foot injury. In eight games, he has averaged 4.438 yards per carry, slightly better than Henry’s average in the nine games he played (4.279).

“I’m really at a loss for words. I’m just so thankful and blessed to be in this position,” Foreman said. “I would be at home, and I would just think to myself, ‘Man, I just want an opportunity.’ … Every time I step on that field I just want to go out there and give it my all and just show that I deserve to be here, I deserve to be in the league.”

Led by Henry and Foreman, the Titans have 2,280 rushing yards for the season, which is third in the NFL. They were fourth at the time Henry went on injured reserve.

“(Foreman) has done a great job for us,” quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. “Really, all of our backs have done a great job filling in. Obviously, tough shoes to fill … but they’ve done it.”

• Elijah Molden set up a second-quarter field goal when he recovered a Tua Tagovailoa fumble at the Miami 14. With that, the rookie defensive back became the third member of Tennessee’s defense with at least one forced fumble and one fumble recovery this season. He forced a fumble in Week 5 at Jacksonville.

Molden jumped on the ball after Tagovailoa lost the grip as he attempted to throw for the first of two Titans’ takeaways in the contest. Four plays later the offense turned it into three points and a 10-0 lead.

Safeties Kevin Byard and Matthias Farley are the only others with at least one forced fumble and one fumble recovery this season. Molden also has an interception (Byard has five).

"I just feel like we are a tough group," Molden said. "Speaking for the defense, just going out there and battling with those guys on this field, it is so much fun to go out there and look around and see everyone’s face. We play fast. We play physical."

• Denico Autry knows how to make a first impression. His sack of Tagovailoa just under four minutes into the contest gave him nine for the season, which tied a career-high. The only other time he had nine was in 2018, which was his first season with the Indianapolis Colts (2018).

Autry now has one sack in each of his last four games and seven and a half in his last nine. He is second on the team to Harold Landry, who has 12 (he also got one against Miami). If Autry gets one more, it will be the first time since 1993 the franchise had two players with 10 or more in a season. Then, Sean Jones had 13 and William Fuller had 10 for the Houston Oilers.

• Speaking of Tagavailoa, the second-year quarterback entered the contest as the NFL’s leader in completion percentage at 69.9. That figure dropped to 67.8 after the Titans limited him to 18 completions on 38 attempts for 205 yards. It was the first time in his NFL career that he completed fewer than half his passes (minimum 10 attempts). Tennessee’s defense broke up six, led by cornerback Kristian Fulton’s two, and registered three hits on Tagovailoa.

• For the first time in eight games, Tannehill threw multiple touchdown passes. He had two against the Dolphins – both to tight ends. Each was notable in its own way.

Geoff Swaim’s 1-yard catch with 1:24 to play in the first quarter started the scoring and was his third touchdown reception of the season. In 53 career games for three teams before this season, he had two touchdown catches.

Anthony Firkser’s 15-yard score made it 24-3 midway through the fourth quarter and was his first of the season. It snapped his streak of 24 straight games without getting to the end zone.

Six of Tannehill’s 17 touchdown throws this season have been to tight ends. Ten have gone to wide receivers and one to a running back.