NASHVILLE – At least for a moment, Nissan Stadium was buzzing again.
The Titans had rallied to tie the game in the closing minutes, fans were waving rally towels, and there was hope a comeback win might be on the horizon.
But that moment was spoiled not long after, as the Texans made a big third-down conversion, and then kicked a field goal as time expired to beat the Titans 16-13.
"These are the hardest ones," Titans edge rusher Arden Key said. "These are the ones that hurt the most."
While the Titans showed some spunk late, they were in a funk offensively most of the day, and it came back to bite them.
With the loss, the Titans dropped to 1-9.
"We didn't do enough on offense," quarterback Cam Ward said. "You score 13 points and you are not going to win a lot of games. We have to help the defense out – they played their butts off today, and they do it every week for us. But we have to come through for these guys in the back half of the season."
Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons was visibly upset in the locker room after the game.
"It's tough as hell (to lose like this)," Simmons said. "We have to play complementary football. Too many self-inflicted things, all around. Three-and-out, three-and-out, three-and-out, we have to be better. I am tired of sugar-coating it, we have to be better, especially at home. We have to play better team football. Sometimes the offense plays good, sometimes the defense, but we have to play good as a team in three phases.
"I'm tired of losing. That team is not better than us – I don't care what people say. They have some good players, but we should have won that game. We have to stop beating ourselves."
There was a stretch late where it looked like the Titans would beat the Texans.
Trailing 13-6 late, the Titans rallied to tie it.
A 39-yard pass from Ward to tight end Chig Okonkwo gave the Titans a first-and-goal at the Houston seven-yard line in the closing minutes.
Then, Ward connected with receiver Van Jefferson for a four-yard touchdown to tie the game at 13-13 with 1:35 remaining.
The Titans were on the verge of getting the ball back, but the Texans converted a third-and-16 with a 17-yard completion from quarterback Davis Mills to receiver Nico Collins, and that eventually set up a 35-yard field goal by kicker Matthew Wright on the final play of the game.
"This is the NFL, and you have to make those plays," linebacker Cedric Gray said of the third-and-16 play. "As a defense, we have to make that play. There is really no other way to put it."
For most of the game, the Titans had problems against Houston.
In the end, not enough offense, and too many penalties, ultimately proved to be too much to overcome.
Ward completed 24-of-37 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown in the contest, and he also ran the ball three times for 33 yards. But Ward also lost the ball on a fumble, he was sacked three times, and the offense had trouble moving the ball all day.
The Titans also committed nine penalties for 62 yards, including a lot of them false starts.
"Well, we've got to clean it all up," Titans interim coach Mike McCoy said. "That's the first thing I told everybody. There were so many good things in the game. The way the defense played the whole entire time, the offense going down there, getting points to start halves, and there's plays that guys are making. But you just can't beat yourself against a really good football team, and that's what happened. The penalties kill you. It's tough. It's tough enough to play against a great defense like that, and then when you have just the penalties that you hurt yourself, it's even harder."
The game started with some early fireworks.
After the Texans misfired on an early field goal, Simmons was flagged for unnecessary roughness for making contact with the long snapper.
The penalty gave the Texans a first-and-goal at the Tennessee six-yard line.
The Titans rose up with a goal-line stand, and on a fourth-and-goal play from the one-yard, Titans linebacker Cody Barton sacked Mills, and the Titans took over.
The Titans then put together a 13-play, 50-yard drive that was capped off with a 56-yard field goal by kicker Joey Slye, which made it 3-0 Titans. The Titans got first down completions to receiver Chimere Dike, running back Tyjae Spears and tight end Chig Okonkwo on the drive.
It was a defensive battle for the rest of the half, and it was 3-0 at the break.
The Titans extended their lead to 6-0 on a 47-yard field goal by Slye, which capped an eight-play, 37-yard drive that included first down completions to receiver Mason Kinsey and tight end Gunnar Helm.
But the Texans then put together a long scoring drive of their own, and they took a 7-6 lead with 7:21 left in the third quarter on a three-yard touchdown pass from Mills to Collins.
A 41-yard field goal by Wright made it 10-6 Texans with 1:32 left in the third quarter.
Disaster struck early in the fourth quarter, when Ward was sacked by Texans edge rusher Will Anderson, and he fumbled in the process. Anderson jumped on the loose ball, and the Texans took over at the Tennessee 34.
But the Titans defense kept it a game by holding the Texans to another field goal, this one from 43 yards out, to make it 13-6.
Then came the exciting, but disappointing conclusion.
"It's definitely tough," running back Tyjae Spears said. "You can always say like we right there, but enough has got to be enough. Like we've been saying that for the last 11 weeks. I don't know how many weeks it's been, we've been saying that, and it's right there. We just got to be able to make a difference."
The Titans return to action next Sunday at Nissan Stadium against the Seattle Seahawks.
The Tennessee Titans take on the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 9 at Nissan Stadium.
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Camden Hall/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Beau Brune/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Donald Page/Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans compete at Nissan Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Nashville, TN. Photo By Jessie Rogers/Tennessee Titans
