A Tale of Two Halves

Ryan Tannehill and Co. pile up first downs and points at the start of the first. Turnovers, penalties and other problems arise as the start of the second.

NASHVILLE – On their first possession last Sunday, the Tennessee Titans looked like a team going places.

The offense marched 76 yards on 10 plays for a touchdown, delivering the first blow against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

One half later, it was a completely different story. On their first possession of the third quarter, the Titans produced a penalty, allowed a sack, and suffered a three-yard loss, winding up in a fourth-and-30 situation.

The disparity between the initial first and second-half drives has been the case all too frequently this season. Through 13 games, the Titans have almost as many touchdowns (six) on their opening first-half drives as they have first downs (seven) on their opening second-half drives.

Maybe even more alarming is the fact that those starts appear to go a long way toward setting the tone for the respective halves.

The Titans average a respectable 13.2 points per game in the first half (10th in the league), but a miserable 5.4 points per contest (32nd) in the second half. Tennessee has scored all of 30 points in the fourth quarter this year. No other team has fewer than 50.

“If (a first possession of the half) is good, you like to build on it, and if it’s bad, you have to be able to take up a step back and wash it away,” quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. “I think that’s what it comes down to. There’s going to be good plays, there’s going to be bad plays, whether it’s in a drive or a series.

“If you have a drive (and) you get stopped, you come to the sideline, you make adjustments and then come out ready to go the next drive. If you’re able to move the ball efficiently and go down and score, then you want to build on that, keep that momentum going. That’s what the game is. It’s about being able to build on momentum when you have it, and when you don’t have it, being able to make enough plays to get it back and go from there.”

A statistical comparison of the Titans' first drives of the first and second halves: 

Half	Poss.	TDs	1st Downs	3-and-outs	TOs	Penalties	Sacks
First	13	6	30	3	0	4	3
Second	13	2	7	9	1	12	4

Just how stagnant have the Titans been at the start of the second half?

They’ve failed to pick up a single first down on 10 of those 13 possessions, with nine three-and-outs and one interception.

One of the biggest differences between the Titans’ initial first-half and second-half drives has been penalties.

The 13 game-opening drives have included four penalties. But flags have flown 12 times in the 13 drives to open the second half.

Sunday against the Jaguars, for example, tight end Geoff Swaim was flagged for an illegal crackback block on the first offensive play of the third quarter. That immediately created a first-and-22 situation.

“I am not sure why penalties increase (on drives to start the second half),” Swaim said. “But it’s obviously important in the bad production in the second half. It correlates.

“Especially on early downs in drives, that’s what kills you, just like that penalty killed that drive (against the Jaguars). That’s on me. That puts us behind the chain. If you’re a play-caller trying to make a play call for first-and-22 or second-and-20, who’s got a lot of good ones for that? So from there, that whole drive is just behind.”

Recently, poor pass protection has helped torpedo the first drives after halftime. Tennessee has allowed a sack in each of the past three games in that situation.

Ideally, the Titans will get out of the gate quickly in both halves this Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers.

But if they happen to struggle – as has been the case so often to start the second half – the challenge is not to let the disappointment of one deflating drive seep into the next few possessions.

“(We don’t want) this roller-coaster of having a good drive and then doing something that affects that, and then really letting it affect the rest of the game,” coach Mike Vrabel said. “(The defense) is going to make some plays. They’re going to get some stops. We have to go right back out whenever we get the ball and get back and find the rhythm.”