A late-game collapse in New York left Tennessee reeling after a goal-line turnover. The rookie passer defends his aggressive decision-making despite another heartbreaking loss for the winless Titans.
Just when you think the Tennessee Titans can't lose in a more painful fashion, Week 3 rolls around.
The Titans trailed the New York Giants 12-0 in the fourth quarter when the offense finally woke up. Tennessee put together a 13-play scoring drive in the fourth quarter.
Cam Ward found Wan'Dale Robinson in the end zone with 5:35 left, making it 12-7. After not being very involved in Week 2, Robinson had seven catches for 57 receiving yards and a touchdown.
A big stop was made by the defense after John Franklin-Myers broke up one of Jameis Winston's passes on 3rd-and-4. The Titans got the ball back and got inside the Giants' 10-yard line.
It was 1st-and-Goal, and the Titans had two timeouts to use. Ward scrambled and tried to thread a pass to Elic Ayomanor. It was intercepted by safety Jevon Holland, giving the Giants a 12-7 win.
From the perspective shown on the CBS broadcast, it looked like Ward had plenty of time and could have run with the football if he wanted to.
With two timeouts left, the Titans didn't need Ward to make a reckless pass into the end zone. Even if he didn't score, the Titans could have gotten closer to the end zone and used one of their two timeouts.
The first question that Ward fielded after the game involved the final play. The quarterback believed he should have thrown it higher. He did acknowledge that he didn't believe he could have made the throw without giving the defense an interception; he would have thrown the ball away.
"I think I just should have thrown it higher," Ward said. "Elic did a great job winning the scramble drill for me. But, you know, I think if I had threw it high, it would been a different result. If not, throw it out of bounds and live another play."
Ward then said that he didn't believe the throw he made on the final play was reckless.
"I don't think it was reckless," Ward said. "I think, you know, it just wasn't a good ball at the end of the day."
This is now the second game in two consecutive weeks that the Titans have lost almost at the final buzzer.
With the Giants' injuries, it really felt like the Titans had a decent chance to win this one. The Giants had Brian Burns go down with an injury during the game and were also without starting safety Tyler Nubin and starting cornerback Deonte Banks.
Yet backup quarterback Jameis Winston and the Giants beat the Titans 12-7.
The Titans miss another chance at a winnable game. The road gets tougher from here.
The Titans travel to M&T Bank Stadium in Week 4 to face Derrick Henry and the Baltimore Ravens. Even if the weather is better, it's going to be a tough game for the Titans to come out on top.
Kickoff is set for noon CT on CBS.
