Titans vs. Chargers game review

The Titans extended their losing streak to the San Diego Chargers losing 33-25 in San Diego Sunday. The lost snapped the Titans three game win streak and extended the Chargers win streak over the Titans to eight games dating back to 1993. They continue to be the only team Jeff Fisher has not defeated in the league, and for some reason just have the Titans number.

The game started out well for the Titans when they got a blocked punt by Nick Schommer for a safety to give them a two point lead and the ball. The Chargers would come back to score later in the first quarter on a 15 play 83 yard drive topped off by a 1-yard run by Mike Tolbert. Vince Young looked sharp to open the second quarter completing passes to rookie Damien Williams and Lavelle Hawkins. He would later connect for a one yard touchdown pass to TE Craig Stevens. San Diego would go three and out and their next drive and the Titans would score again on their next, this time on the legs on Chris Johnson for a 29-yard burst. Johnson looked to be surrounded in the back field but was able to cut back and make two defenders miss and got a great block from Vince Young. It was just a beautiful run and really the lone highlight ofJohnson’s day. He would finish with 15 carries for just 59 yards and that one touchdown.

San Diego would march right back down the field on the next play and score to make it 19-14 and that would be the score going into halftime.

The third quarter is when things begin to slip away from the Titans. The offense began to sputter leading to three consecutive punts in the third. San Diego on the other hand found their rhythm and scored on a field goal from Kris Brown and a game breaker touchdown from Antonio Gates. Phillip Rivers would find him streaking up the sidelines for a 48- yard strike. That score gave all of the momentum to the Chargers heading into the fourth quarter.

Even with uncle mo on the side of the Chargers, Vince Young and the Titans were not finished. Young would find Nate Washington for a 71 yard bomb deep down the middle on the Titans first drive in the fourth. The Titans would try a two-point conversion but would fail making the game 25-27 in San Diego’s favor. The Chargers again would roar back and score a touchdown on an 8 play 52 yard drive capped by a Phillip Rivers pass to Darren Sproles for 13 yards. San Diego would have a bad snap on the extra point forcing Kris Brown to run and get tackled without ever attempting the extra point. This was important as it kept it a one possession game for the Titans at 33-25.

On the Titans next drive, Vince Young would go down with an apparent ankle/Achilles injury. He would finish the game 10/21 for 253 yards and two touchdowns. Kerry Collins would enter the game in mop up duty for Young. Collins would lead the last drive for the Titans but to no avail as Chris Johnson would drop his pass on a fourth and two that would seal the victory for the Chargers. “It was just a dropped ball, that’s about it, a play I was supposed to make,” Johnson said. “I make it nine out of 10 times but it was just a dropped ball.”

Said Collins: “We just couldn’t hook up for whatever reason. It’s unfortunate because we fought our butts off to get down there

The Titans fought hard but could not pull out another tough close game. The Chargers are a desperate team and finally played like it. Phillip Rivers would finish 27-36 for 305 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was able to dissect the Titans defense and throw for big gains. The Titans have a bye week next Sunday and it will give them a chance to evaluate their season to this point and to get all of the injured healthy. They should be very happy with a 5-3 record but also disappointed with two close losses to Denver and San Diego. They could easily be 7-1 at this point. Their next game is Nov. 14th at the Miami Dolphins.