NASHVILLE – With the Chargers in town, sparks flew early for the Tennessee Titans.
A quick defensive touchdown and the first punt return for a touchdown in 13 years electrified the crowd at Nissan Stadium.
But the Titans couldn't sustain the positive energy in this one because the offense couldn't finish drives, the defense had trouble slowing down the Chargers, and the team hurt itself with too many penalties and mistakes.
It all added up to a 27-20 loss, which dropped the team to 1-8 on the season.
"Real disappointed," quarterback Cam Ward said of the offense's inability to produce enough points. "Especially just because we know that's the biggest problem – we have to execute on drives, and we didn't.
"Special teams, defense, they did their jobs today to put us in a situation to win. But offensively, we didn't do enough to win."
The biggest turning point in the game happened in the third quarter, when the Titans were stuffed on back-to-back plays from the Chargers one-yard line.
When the Chargers got the ball, they proceeded to drive the ball 99 yards to take a double-digit lead, and it was too much of a deficit to overcome.
"That's the difference," Titans coach Mike McCoy said. "It's frustrating to look at, because of the missed opportunities that we had.
"Losing sucks any way you look at it. It's hard, like I just told (the players). We talked about playing hard, tough and together – that's what they did. But we made too many mistakes in the game, from the first quarter all the way to the fourth quarter. You can't just say it's one play here or there – the goal-line stand was obviously big, but there were plenty of other things that we had an opportunity to go out there and execute better, and we didn't."
Titans quarterback Cam Ward completed 12-of-21 passes for 145 yards for the Titans. Running back Tony Pollard carried the ball 10 times for 56 yards on a day when the Titans averaged 4.6 yards per carry.
Defensively, the Titans sacked Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert six times.
But Herbert threw for 250 yards and two touchdowns in the contest, and he ran for 57 yards and another score as the Chargers outgained the Titans 343 to 206 in total yards.
Meanwhile, the Titans were penalized seven times for 60 yards to slow themselves down in the first half, and the offense was just 1-of-9 on third down.
It helped doom the Titans once again.
Things looked promising early, as the Titans jumped out to an early 7-0 lead on a pick-6 from linebacker Cody Barton, who stepped in front of a Herbert pass, intercepted it, and raced 24 yards for a touchdown.
"When you get a play like that, it just energizes the whole team," Barton said. "And we used that to our advantage."
After the Chargers answered back on a three-yard touchdown pass from Herbert to fullback Scott Matlock to make it 7-7, the Titans then turned in another big play later in the first quarter, compliments of returner Chimere Dike.
Dike returned a Chargers punt 67 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-7. Dike's punt return for a touchdown was the first for the Titans since Darius Reynaud had two during a December 2012 vs. the Jaguars.
"I am more happy for our (special teams) unit," Dike said. "Those guys work their tails off, so to do my job and finish off the run, it was great."
A 27-yard field goal by Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker made it 14-10 with 14:06 left in the second quarter, and then Los Angeles took their first lead of the game on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Herbert to Johnston with 8:37 left in the second quarter.
After the Titans tied it up on a 49-yard field goal from kicker Joey Slye with 5:02 left in the first half, the Chargers took a 20-17 lead into halftime after a 52-yard field goal by Dicker with 20 seconds left in the second quarter.
The game was there for the taking, but here's where things changed:
Midway through the third quarter, the Titans had a great chance to retake the lead. But Pollard was stopped short of the goal line on back-to-back plays from the Chargers one-yard line, and the game remained 20-17 Los Angeles.
On their ensuring possession, the Chargers drove the ball 99 yards in 9:03, using 15 plays, and capped the drive off with a one-yard touchdown run by Herbert.
It was the biggest swing of the game, and costly sequence for the Titans, who managed to get a 37-yard field goal from Slye to make it 27-20 with 4:19 remaining.
The Titans couldn't get the ball back as the Chargers ran out the clock with three third-down conversions in the closing minutes.
The Titans have a bye next weekend before returning to action on November 16 at Nissan Stadium against the Houston Texans.
"We have to reset," said edge rusher Dre'Mont Jones, who had 1.5 sacks. "It was a bad first half of the season, but hopefully we can turn this thing around. You want to finish on a strong note as much as you possibly can."
The Tennessee Titans take on the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 9 at Nissan Stadium.
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers compete at Nissan Stadium on November 02, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo B Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
