Big-Money Additions Cost Titans against Colts

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Colts sat back in free agency, re-signing five key players off a team that didn’t make the playoffs and adding little else.

The Titans spent a load on nine veterans who arrived as free agents or via trade.

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. (11) makes a touchdown catch against Tennessee Titans' L'Jarius Sneed (38) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/John Amis)
  L'Jarius Sneed vs. Michael Pittman/ ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sunday the teams’ third- and fourth-biggest 2024 cap hits and two biggest additions, Calvin Ridley and L’Jarius Sneed, not only didn’t help the Titans win, but they were big reasons why the team lost its first AFC South game of the season, 20-17 to the stand-pat Colts, and fell to 1-4.

Ridley was targeted a team-high eight times and didn’t catch a pass. And on the Colts’ fourth-quarter, game-winning touchdown drive Sneed was flagged for a 33-yard pass interference for grabbing Alec Pierce’s arm and then outmaneuvered and outjumped by Michael Pittman for a 10-yard touchdown.

“I had targets in what part of the game?” Ridley asked reporters, one of whom said a lot in the fourth quarter. “All right then, so shit. I need some in the beginning of the fucking game too. Like, shit’s getting fucking crazy for me.

“I’m just, it is what it is. I sucked today. I’ve got to be better. But I’ve got to get the ball a little earlier in the game so I can be in the game and here with the team so I can play well also.”

Said Brian Callahan: We can't win like that. I'm sure he'll be the first one to tell you that that was disappointing. But he's one of our best players and he's—we look to him to try to make a play or two and we didn't get it done at the end of the game. We got to be better all the way around, offensively. …

"I can't comment on anything specific. I mean, there's nothing that would have let me believe that he would have had no catches in the game.”

During the week I argued for more targets for Ridley. I believed they should go to him early and often. There is a candid review in what he said. But when they don’t go to him early he can’t be flubbing balls later and put them in position to turn away from him and to the far less dangerous Tyler Boyd.

In the midst of some preseason issues, we were told by all involved that Ridley and Levis would be in synch when it mattered and there is no indication of that. It’s unacceptable for an offensive coach who said Ridley was going to be his Ja’Marr Chase to not have a better formula, for Levis not to have a better feel for him and for Ridley to be making mistakes when the ball comes to him.

In all, Ridley now has nine catches in 27 targets.

On defense, Amani Hooker picked off one of the Colts’ adds, backup quarterback Joe Flacco. He breezed on Indianapolis’ opening drive, when people were wide open and the rush against him was non-existent. 

Things tightened up. But Ernest Jones said after the Titans' loss to the Packers at Nissan Stadium on Sept. 22 that the highly-ranked defense made plays when it didn’t matter and didn’t make them when it did. 

“Prime example,” he said after the loss to the Colts. “Didn’t execute, didn’t make the plays when we needed to.” 

Tony Pollard put the Titans ahead 17-10 with 6:19 remaining in the third and that was it for the offense. In five remaining series, it managed 15 plays, 39 yards, three punts, an interception and the clock running out.

It may be an unreasonable ask, but the Titans needed stops and gave up a 15-play, 66-yard field goal drive and an 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. 

Three penalties for 54 yards aided those. While there were some objectionable calls in the game, only Kenneth Murray’s 6-yard pass interference against Josh Downs was questionable here. It gave the Colts a first down on a third-and-10. Sebastian Joseph Day’s roughing the passer (where he touched Flacco’s face) and Sneed’s DPI deserved flags.

“I feel like it wasn’t a PI because he had no chance to get the ball,” Sneed said. “I feel like it was a bad call. It is what it is. Next play mentality.”

On the TD, he said: “He got a beat on me, got ahead a step on me. He just threw the ball up and he was running away from my leverage so he made a big play, shout out to him…”

Dennard Wilson called Sneed the NFL’s best cornerback on Thursday. He’s the most gifted corner to wear the uniform in a long time. But he gave up a giant third down conversion against Green Bay, a big play in the Jets’ game-winning drive and now this.

The standards are high when your coordinator is dishing out that kind of praise. Sneed expects to play better and the Titans should expect him to play better. 

“There is more work to do,” he said. “I feel like I didn’t play my best game at all. As a whole, as a defense – it’s not about me. I feel like they tried to take me out of the game. Didn’t let me do what I do best.” 

Flacco threw for 189 yards. He doesn't move well. Coming into the game, Anthony Richardson's backup had been sacked on 7.3 percent of his dropbacks. The Titans didn't get to him once and only hit him twice. 

As is the case whenever the Titans don't finish as a rush unit, we were told how we overrate sacks.

Both teams ran the ball 28 times, and the Titans got far better results with 146 yards and a score as compared to 80 yards for the Colts.

But running well is simply not enough if the passing game produces Will Levis’ 16 for 27 for 95 yards with a TD and a pick. He was not sacked by the worst front the Titans have seen so far.

“We're running the ball well but as you can see, even running the ball well doesn't give you enough,” Callahan said. “You got to be able to throw it and throw it with some efficiency, and we've not done a good enough job of that. And that ultimately is on me. That's my job. I got to find ways to put guys in better position, got to find things that we can execute better than we have, and that's really all there is to it.”

He’s not wrong.

But after a bye week, Callahan came out against the NFL’s fourth-worst pass defense and had Levis throw his first three passes at or behind the line of scrimmage.

Is that a conservative coach? Is that a coach who feels like he needs to baby his quarterback? Is that a coach worried about the reliability of his top weapon?

We necessarily don’t know what it was going into this one. Coming out it could be all three. And that’s not good stuff to take to Buffalo.