Tennessee Titans Save Season With Win Over Jacksonville Jaguars

By Ryan Ratty @RyanRattyNFL on October 12, 2014

It wasn’t pretty, but the Charlie Whitehurst-led Tennessee Titans were able to beat the hapless Jacksonville Jaguars. After losing four consecutive games following their Week 1 blowout victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, the Titans were in need of a victory in Week 6. Even though they were without their starting quarterback and running back, the Titans were able to come away with a 16-14 victory.

With the injury to incumbent starter Jake Locker, Whitehurst, who followed Whisenhunt from San Diego, was able to do just enough to get the win. Whitehurst completed 17 out of 28 passes for 233 yards. The top running back taken in the 2014 NFL Draft, Bishop Sankey, made his first professional start in this game. Sankey, a rookie out of Washington, carried the football 18 times for 61 rushing yards. As you can see, Whitehurst and Sankey combined for only 294 yards of offense. That being said, the Titans had to win this game with their defense and their special teams.

Blidi Wreh-Wilson made perhaps the biggest play of the game, as he picked off a pass from Blake Bortles that was returned for 34 yards. The interception put Tennessee’s offense in good field position. One of the best special teams players in the game in Leon Washington brought back a kick return for 50 yards. Because of the stagnancy on offense, the Titans had to use other ways to move the football.

Going forward, however, the Titans will have two straight winnable games against the Washington Redskins and the Houston Texans. With Locker likely coming back in Week 7, the Titans should find more success on the offensive end. With the Indianapolis Colts‘ slow start and the Texans falling back to earth, this division is still within reach, but the Titans don’t have any time to play around.

Ryan Ratty is a featured writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @RyanRattyNFL or add him to your network on Google.