NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans have allowed 11 sacks through two games and been flagged 23 times for 193 yards.
In other words, they continue to be their own worst enemy with an 0-2 start that gives them an eight-game losing streak dating to last season.
Rookie quarterback Cam Ward, the No. 1 pick of April’s NFL draft, is paying the physical price of those mistakes. He was sacked five times and stripped of the ball on one of those takedowns Sunday at Nissan Stadium, where the Titans lost their home opener 33-19 to the Los Angeles Rams.
“We just got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot,” said Ward, who was 19-of-33 passing for 175 yards and a touchdown. “My turnover, penalties cost us throughout the game both sides of the ball. We’ve just got to lock in.”
The Titans piled up four penalties in the seven plays after the opening kickoff and finished with 10 for 62 yards, not counting two that were declined. They were flagged 13 times for 131 yards a week earlier in their season-opening 20-12 loss to the Denver Broncos.
“It’s not complicated in my opinion,” Tennessee left guard Peter Skoronski said of the penalties. “We can’t have them, especially presnap with the false starts. We can’t do it. We’ve got to be disciplined. There’s not tricks or anything to not having them. We’ve just got to be disciplined and don’t do that. It’s pretty simple.”
Coach Brian Callahan, now 3-16 as head coach of the Titans, spent the offseason trying to get his Titans to stop hurting themselves with the penalties they can control. Through two games, they remain a problem he said they have to get fixed.
“Just things that are frustrating, very frustrating to be in that spot,” Callahan said. “It’s obviously something that we had a problem with last year. It was a problem before. It’s still a problem, and we’re trying like hell to get it fixed. So far, we haven’t been successful doing that.”
The Titans had a couple of false starts by right tackle John Ojukwu, starting in place of JC Latham. Veteran right guard Kevin Zeitler was flagged for being an ineligible receiver downfield on the second play of Tennessee’s first possession, wiping out a first down catch by Chimere Dike. There was a defensive offside. A holding penalty on a kickoff return.
The costliest penalty came on a late flag for a blindside block by linebacker Cedric Gray, which wiped out a 57-yard punt return for a touchdown by Dike.
“I guess they said that I led with my shoulder,” Gray said. “I thought I led with my hands, but I just have to eat it, have to be a little bit smarter in that situation next time.”
The sacks are more dangerous to a franchise trying to rebuild with a rookie quarterback. The Titans gave up six sacks to the NFL’s top pass rushing team in the opener, and they nearly matched that Sunday. It didn’t help that right tackle JC Latham was out with a strained hip.
Ward showed signs of growth, scrambling away from a pass rusher before throwing back to the left to fellow rookie Elic Ayomanor for his first NFL touchdown catch in the second quarter. Ward also took what he could get under pressure, scrambling up the middle to give Joey Slye a better distance to kick.
The rookie’s one fumble turned into a touchdown for the Rams when the Titans trailed only 20-16 early in the fourth quarter.
Ayomanor, who said the ball for his touchdown would go to Ward, said the quarterback’s consistent personality helps.
“Everybody’s going to make a bad play,” Ayomanor said. “But the thing that’s very unique about Cam is he makes a bad play and that’s it. He has a very short-term memory.”
The Rams (2-0) showed what smart football can do, proving efficient before kicking into high gear when they had to by scoring 20 straight points.
Matthew Stafford threw for 298 yards and two touchdowns a week after surpassing 60,000 passing yards for his NFL career during the Rams’ 14-9 home win against the Houston Texans.
Stafford said that when the Rams “execute with the players that we have and the scheme that we have” it equates to “a high probability of being successful.”
Puka Nacua had 91 yards on eight catches and a 45-yard touchdown run for the Rams, while fellow receiver Davante Adams had 106 yards on six catches, including a touchdown. Joshua Karty kicked two field goals for Los Angeles, and linebacker Byron Young had two sacks and stripped Ward of the ball at the Titans’ 21-yard line on his second sack.
Tennessee, which led 13-10 at halftime, was up 16-13 when the Rams made their almost perfunctory comeback.
Stafford put the Rams ahead to stay with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Davis Allen late in the third quarter. After Ward’s fumble, Stafford needed three plays to put the Rams up 27-16 with 9:40 left on a 16-yard touchdown pass to Adams. Blake Corum added a 1-yard touchdown run with 6:45 left for the Rams, who outgained the Titans 439-252 in total offense
“I was pleased with the way we finished that game,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “I thought we had really great command in the second half. That’s a really a tough football team.”
Tennessee linebacker Cody Barton had an interception and Joey Slye kicked four field goals for the Titans, who begin AFC South Division play next Sunday by hosting the Indianapolis Colts.
“Frustrating to start a season 0-2, certainly,” Callahan said. “I’ve still got a lot of belief in our football team, that we can win games in this league in the season. But right now, we haven’t put together a game worth winning against two really good football teams to start.”