NASHVILLE — For the past four seasons, the Tennessee Titans struggled to find a dependable kicker.
They seem to have put that behind them with the preseason addition of veteran Nick Folk, who has been reliable so far this fall.
Now they have a bigger problem: finding the end zone.
“We haven’t scored enough touchdowns, period,” Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill said Wednesday. “You look at getting down in the red zone, kicking field goals and getting behind the sticks, hurting ourselves, putting ourselves in long-yard situations. We’ve got to score more as an offense as a whole.”
Scoring points was such a problem last season that the Titans ended it on a seven-game skid, coming up short of the playoffs when they were unable to win their finale to clinch a third straight AFC South Division title, and coach Mike Vrabel switched offensive coordinators. They’ve scored more than 16 points exactly twice this season, winning both games where they put up 27 points.
The Titans (2-3), who flew out Thursday to London for Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens (3-2), are ranked 26th in scoring with an average just 17.6 points a game, a mere tick ahead of the 17.5 they averaged for the 2022 season to finish 28th.
Tennessee has scored a grand total of seven touchdowns and just scored its lone touchdown on the road last Sunday. The biggest challenge is finishing drives inside an opponent’s 20-yard line. Last season, they ranked sixth in scoring touchdowns in the red zone but now are tied for 29th, converting 35.2% of such trips.
They can put together long drives. In their 23-16 loss to the Indianapolis Colts last weekend, the Titans strung together three possessions lasting at least 10 plays, only to settle for three field goals from Folk, who came on board after camp in a trade from the New England Patriots. A nine-play, 70-yard drive ended at the Colts’ 5 when three-time Pro Bowl running back Derrick Henry was stopped on fourth-and-1.
That came in the fourth quarter with the Titans trailing 20-16.
Vrabel pointed out they’ve had eight double-digit play drives end in field goals. Luckily for the team, Folk has made all 13 field goals he has attempted, and he’s responsible for 46 of their 88 points scored.
“We just have to be at our best late in those drives,” Vrabel said. “As much as that’s impressive and we converted and stayed efficient, talked about all those things, well, we just made mistakes down in the red zone.”
Tannehill has thrown more interceptions (five) than touchdown passes (two), and Henry nearly matched the Titans quarterback for touchdown passes this season except DeAndre Hopkins’ left foot landed just outside the end zone on a catch against the Colts.
The addition of Hopkins, a five-time Pro Bowl receiver, was supposed to help the offense. Hopkins is doing his part, leading Tennessee with 26 receptions for 356 yards, but he has yet to catch a touchdown pass, with Henry’s toss to him last week the closest he has come to scoring.
Hopkins is coming off his best game yet for Tennessee with eight catches for 140 yards, and Tannehill said the chemistry keeps building.
“DeAndre will be a part of that,” Tannehill said of scoring more touchdowns.
It won’t be easy against Baltimore. The Ravens are the NFL’s toughest defense to score against when backed up inside their 20.
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine has caught both of Tannehill’s touchdown passes to this point, and rookie tight end Josh Whyle caught a jump pass from Henry in the Titans’ home win against the Cincinnati Bengals two weeks ago. Westbrook-Ikhine said the offense has shown it can score quickly and drive downfield, but converting in the red zone — and not just with field goals — is a necessity for any NFL team.
“It’s a building block,” Westbrook-Ikhine said, “but we’ve got to take another step, too.”
They’ll have to try to do so without receiver Treylon Burks, who was ruled out Thursday and will miss his third straight game with a left knee injury.