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Titans have disastrous day on special teams in loss to Lions

AP photo by Carlos Osorio / Tennessee Titans coach Brian Callahan looks onto the field during the second half of Sunday's game against the host Detroit Lions.
AP photo by Carlos Osorio / Tennessee Titans coach Brian Callahan looks onto the field during the second half of Sunday's game against the host Detroit Lions. AP photo by Carlos Osorio / Tennessee Titans coach Brian Callahan looks onto the field during the second half of Sunday's game against the host Detroit Lions.

By The Associated Press 5 min read

DETROIT — When a football team’s head coach has to defend the performance of his special teams coordinator, it probably wasn’t a very good day.

That’s what Brian Callahan had to do after Tennessee repeatedly gave up long returns to the Detroit Lions in Sunday’s 52-14 embarrassment at Ford Field. The Titans allowed 262 yards and a touchdown on returns, sinking any hope they had of keeping the game close and adding a second win in Callahan’s first season as an NFL head coach.

Earlier this season, Tennessee had punts blocked in consecutive weeks. It’s a terrible look for first-year special teams coordinator Colt Anderson, who spent the previous four seasons as an assistant special teams coach with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Callahan, who was Cincinnati’s offensive coordinator the past five seasons before being hired by the Titans in January, was asked about Anderson’s job status after the game.

“I think Colt’s a good football coach,” he said. “We haven’t played well enough, we haven’t coached well enough. There’s really nothing else to be said about that.”