Titans’ Loss to Saints Was Bill Coming Due on Secondary Decisions

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans lost Sunday’s game long before it kicked off.

They lost it on March 29, 2024, when they decided L’Jarius Sneed would be their star cornerback.

They lost it on Sept. 23, when they decided Jarvis Browlee’s attitude wasn’t worth his feisty play outside.

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr. (81) pulls in a touchdown pass against Tennessee Titans cornerback Kemon Hall (40) in the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/John Amis)
Kemon Hall gets beat by Kevin Austin/ ASSOCIATED PRESS

They lost it Oct. 27, when they dealt Roger McCreary, getting something for a player they didn’t intend to keep beyond this season but who could cover people better inside or out than any corner who was active against the Saints.

And they lost it Dec. 16, when Kevin Winston, Xavier Woods and Mike Brown all went on injured reserve.

Before getting into the details, here are the broad strokes: The Titans played fairly well and led deep into the fourth quarter before crumbling in a 34-26 loss to New Orleans that dropped them to 3-13.

They got a huge defensive play from two no-name defensive backs when Kemon Hall missed a tackle, then chased down Dante Pettis three yards short of the end zone, forcing a fumble that Kaiir Elam managed to recover even though two Saints reached the ball first.

That Hall-Elam takeaway left Tennessee up 26-20 with the ball and 11:06 to play.

From there, the defense folded. The Saints went 141 yards and scored two touchdowns in 11 plays.

The first one was too easy. Chris Olave beat Darrell Baker on a simple 60-yard completion, then Hall failed to turn and locate the ball on Tyler Shough’s 10-yard touchdown throw to Kevin Austin.

“It’s really just understanding the call really in that situation, who had at No. 2 (in the route) and stuff like that,” Hall said. “I wish I could have had that back.”

The second touchdown pretty much ended it.

Audric Estime, a 2024 fourth-round pick by Denver who spent time on Philadelphia’s practice squad before being signed by New Orleans in October, took a first-and-10 handoff, bounced left, ran into Kendell Brooks, probably the Titans’ fifth-choice safety, bounced off him and raced 32 yards for the score with 3:44 left.

“I’ve just got to finish the tackle,” Brooks said. “Wrap him up, finish him off.”

Cedric Gray said he would talk to the young defensive backs but keep those conversations private.

Were those hard conversations?

“Yeah,” Gray said.

The Titans made things far too easy on rookie quarterback Tyler Shough, who finished 22-of-27 for 333 yards, two touchdowns and a 142.7 passer rating.

New Orleans entered the game with a higher-rated defense and eventually played like it.

Up to the Hall-Elam takeaway, Cam Ward was 14-of-23 with two touchdown passes and a lost fumble that went for a touchdown. That turnover didn’t factor into the excellent 119.8 passer rating those numbers produced.

From there, the Titans’ offense collapsed.

Six runs for five yards. Ward went 7-of-17 for 41 yards with a 48.9 passer rating.

Still, Tennessee scored 24 or more points for the fourth straight game. That was enough to win in Cleveland and against Kansas City. Twenty-six should have been enough to beat the Saints, who entered the game averaging 17 points.

“Everyone dreamed to play in the NFL,” Jeffery Simmons said. “When you get your opportunity, it doesn’t matter about young or inexperienced. These guys practices for this. We just have to be better at doing our jobs.

“Yes, maybe they’re nervous … but they’ve got to step up. I feel like that’s what you should expect. You want to be on the field in them type of situations. It takes all 11 though. It’s not just on these young guys.”

Dennard Wilson has done some wizardry this season. But he lost Marcus Harris last week and Jalyn Armour-Davis early in the first quarter, leaving him with Elam and Hall as his top corners -- they'd be seventh and eighth on this season's roster -- as well as fifth safety Brooks with Amani Hooker in the back end.

You can talk next man up all you want. Shough showed himself competent. The Titans helped the back end with two sacks and four more quarterback hits. Olave's eight catches for 119 yards boosted him to 100 for 1,163 yards on the season.

A team that had surged with two wins in three games still hasn’t won consecutive contests since Nov. 13 and 17 of 2022.

There are multiple factors behind that reality. But none bigger than the talent and the depth behind it.

Sunday was the result of decisions made months ago finally showing up where they always do: on the field.