Titans Drop Bolts

The Tennessee Titans finally got a much-needed sigh of relief.

Actually, two.

They have a reliable kicker, and that eight-game skid going back to last November is over.

“I get to put the cherry on top,” the 16-year veteran kicker said of his 13th career game-winning field goal and 12th in the regular season.

The Titans (1-1) hadn’t won since Nov. 17 in Green Bay last season, a skid that cost them a third straight AFC South title.

On Sunday, they had to rally in their home opener from an 11-point deficit where the Chargers had more points than Tennessee had yards (eight).

“We needed it,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said.

Ryan Tannehill rebounded from the worst game of his career in the opener by throwing for 246 yards and put Tennessee up 24-21 with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. He also ran for a touchdown and started the game-winning drive with a 49-yard toss to Chris Moore.

“Obviously wanted to come back and play well today after last week, so excited to be able to do that,” Tannehill said. “Felt great to be back out there and be able to pull out the win at the end, so made it a lot of fun.”

Derrick Henry had 80 yards and also ran for a touchdown.

The Chargers (0-2) now are mired in their first winless start since 2017 when they lost their first four games in both their first season in Los Angeles and first with then-coach Anthony Lynn.

Justin Herbert threw for 305 yards and two touchdowns to Keenan Allen. With the ball and 2:22 left in regulation, he was sacked by Harold Landry forcing the Chargers to settle for Cameron Dicker’s third field goal of the game to force overtime.

The Chargers won the coin toss. But Herbert threw three straight incompletions as Tennessee forced just its third three-and-out of the game.

“We had a tough time protecting the passer today and just didn’t do well enough in that phase to give us a chance to earn overtime,” Chargers coach Brandon Staley said.

The Chargers now have lost five games under Stanley when leading by 10 or more, tied for second most in the NFL since 2021. Only Baltimore (six) has more in that span.

Herbert said there’s a lot of football left for the Chargers despite this start.

“We’re not where we want to be right now, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t get there in a couple of weeks,” Herbert said.