NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans produced their best blocking performance of the season Sunday in Cleveland, from the offensive line through the rest of the run game, and it finally translated.
They limited Myles Garrett to the Browns’ lone sack and powered their way to 184 rushing yards, their highest total since 2022, in just their second win of the season. Tony Pollard led the way with a career game.
“That’s O-line identity right there, that’s the kind of game we want to play,” Peter Skoronski said. “You want to control the line of scrimmage and win the game with that.”
Dan Moore, Skoronski, Corey Levin, Kevin Zeitler and JC Latham looked like the upgraded group the Titans thought they were getting when the season opened under Bill Callahan in his second year as position coach.
Instead, most of the year has again been a grind. Bill Callahan left the staff after his son, head coach Brian Callahan, was fired six games into the season. Lloyd Cushenberry has been a disappointment at center, even allowing for his return from the Achilles tear he suffered mid-2024. Now he has missed a second straight game with a foot injury, and Levin has provided a noticeable lift at the pivot.
Latham has struggled through his second season. Zeitler has not been the steady force many expected. Moore has been what most projected him to be, an average left tackle.
An optimist will point to Sunday as a potential turning point.
Nick Holz sees a team that has not stopped working even as the losses piled up.
“The mindset is that we’ve been a fairly tough-minded group this whole time,” Nick Holz said, “When the success hasn’t been there, we’ve kept working. A lot of teams at 1-11 or whatever we were would have kind of folded up.
“It gives me confidence seeing how these guys carry themselves, the way they prepare, the way they go about their business, that it’s going to pop for them one time. It’s going to keep going and keep going and keep going. We’ve got s really young team and a group that’s getting better.”
The season offers little evidence of sustained carryover.
After nearly reaching 200 passing yards in Week 3 against the Colts, they followed with 93 in a shutout loss at Houston.
After winning in Arizona in Week 5, they followed with three turnovers in a loss at Las Vegas.
They showed some stability over three weeks against the Chargers, Texans and Seahawks, losing by 7, 3 and 6 while committing just one turnover. Still, there was no complete breakthrough.
That modest progress vanished a week later in a 22-3 home loss to Jacksonville in which the Titans looked flat from the start.
Now they have not only a win in Cleveland, but proof they can build a plan to neutralize an elite player and execute it. They successfully committed to the run in a way they had not previously done.
“We’re just growing, kind of just growing up,” Latham said. “Not only with accountability, but positive reinforcement.”
But is there any real reason to believe it shows up again on Sunday in Santa Clara?
Until we see them stack it, no. Absolutely none.