After a devastating late-game collapse against Philadelphia, Tennessee’s head coach critiques the secondary's failure to execute simple defensive principles during critical third-down conversions and situational plays.
The Tennessee Titans lost a heartbreaker to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2.
The Titans led 20-17 with 1:56 left after a Joey Slye field goal. The problem was that they gave the Eagles too much time.
Jalen Hurts and the offense marched down the field. The Titans tried their hardest to make things tough for him, but he continued to stand tall and make clutch completions.
The Titans got the Eagles to third down multiple times in the final drive but couldn't force a fourth-down situation to keep the game alive.
The problems on third down didn't just persist on the final drive. The Eagles continued to get out of 3rd-and-long throughout the entire game.
Philadelphia went 11-of-18 on third-down conversions. The Titans converted 6-of-13 third downs in the game.
The Titans lost 24-20 after a last-second touchdown to Darius Cooper.
The Eagles kept the Titans' defense on the field with constant, massive third-down conversions in long situations.
After the game, Robert Saleh addressed the issues on third downs. He believes it comes down to better situational football in the future.
"Yeah, you know, we've just gotta understand situations and execute better," Saleh said. "You know, one of the 3rd-and-longs we got, we're playing a Cover 2 principle, and we're playing low on the down instead of high. Same thing happened in the two-minute situation. You know, they peep open and score a touchdown. Again, there are simple principles that we need to be better at and execute. Even understanding how teams attack us. You know, I think as our players grow within the system, they are gonna learn that everything they see is the same. It's the same thing every week. They might change the formation. They might change the look. We call it window dressing. The distribution of routes is always gonna be the same. And our players, as they learn the system, will start figuring out how to play all those."
It became apparent that the team was confused on the final play. For Cooper to be that wide open on a crucial late-game play, there had to be confusion in the secondary.
The Titans' secondary looked out of sorts on that final drive. The Eagles continued to have open receivers in the middle of the field on third downs.
The Titans have young players in the secondary. There's Marcus Harris, who had a crucial interception in the fourth quarter. Micah Robinson is also in his second NFL season after being signed from the Green Bay Packers' practice squad last year.
Still, that shouldn't be an excuse for the disaster that was the Eagles' last drive.
This is just going to be part of the growing pains for this young Titans' defense. The Titans will now look ahead to the New York Giants in Week 3 after letting this one slip away.
Former Titans head coach Brian Callahan is on John Harbaugh's staff at the Giants. He is the quarterback coach now.
Callahan spoke about facing Cam Ward in a recent interview. He wished him the best, but hoped the Giants' defense would do its part when they faced him.
It will be a battle of two first-round picks as Ward and the Titans face Jaxson Dart and the Giants on Sept. 27.
Kickoff is set for noon CT on CBS, as the Titans play their first road game of 2026.
