TEAM NOTES
- The Titans completed their 2025 home schedule and will finish the campaign next week at Jacksonville. They have one more season in the current Nissan Stadium before New Nissan Stadium opens in 2027.
- The temperature at kickoff was 71 degrees, making it the second-warmest December or January game at Nissan Stadium, which opened in 1999. The only warmer game temperature at the venue in December or January was 73 degrees against Houston on Dec. 27, 2015.
- After four rookies started against New Orleans (quarterback Cam Ward, tight end Gunnar Helm, and wide receivers Elic Ayomanor and Chimere Dike), the Titans have 62 combined starts by their rookie class in 2025. That surpasses the 2005 Titans rookie class (60) for the most by the team in its "Titans era" (1999–present). Within the NFL in 2025, the Titans rank third in rookie starts behind Cleveland (76) and the New York Jets (63).
- The Titans registered their fourth consecutive game with an even or better turnover margin. It is their longest such streak since a four-game run from Week 3 to Week 7 of 2022.
- Four penalties were enforced against the Titans, which tied for their third-lowest penalty total of the season.
- Tennessee possessed the ball for 31 minutes and 41 seconds to take the time-of-possession battle for the seventh time in 2025.
- The Titans defense forced its second touchback of the season when Kaiir Elam recovered a Dante Pettis fumble (caused by Kemon Hall) in the end zone during the fourth quarter. The other was the result of an Arizona fumble through the end zone in Week 6.
TEAM NOTES – OFFENSE
- The Titans notched their fourth consecutive game with at least 24 points, which is their longest such streak since an eight-game run in 2021.
- With Elic Ayomanor recording his fourth touchdown reception of the season, he and Chimere Dike became the franchise's first rookie duo since Jim Beirne and Mac Haik in 1968 to each hit four touchdown catches. The Titans and 2025 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Emeka Egbuka and Tez Johnson) are the only NFL teams since 2020 to record such a feat by a rookie pair.
- The Titans offense totaled 336 yards to give them three consecutive games with 300-plus yards.
- The offense accumulated 108 rushing yards. Their current streak of four consecutive games with 100-plus rushing yards marks their longest such streak since the beginning of the 2023 season.
- The offense had four completions of at least 27 yards, which was their most since having five such completions at Green Bay on Nov. 17, 2022.
WR ELIC AYOMANOR
- Tied for the team lead with four receptions for 37 yards and one touchdown.
- Late in the second quarter, he caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Cam Ward. It was the fourth touchdown reception of his rookie campaign.
CB DARRELL BAKER JR.
- Tied for third on the team with five tackles.
LB CODY BARTON
- Logged three tackles.
- Became one of six defenders in the NFL this season to amass at least 75 tackles and 11 passes defensed, through the early afternoon games of Sunday, Dec. 28. He is the only non-defensive back to accomplish the feat.
S KENDELL BROOKS
- Started at safety for the second consecutive game and recorded five tackles.
RB JULIUS CHESTNUT
- Logged his fifth consecutive game with at least one special teams tackle and now leads the team with 15 stops on special teams this season.
- Among all running backs in 2025, Chestnut's 15 special teams tackles are tied with Houston's Dare Ogunbowale for the league lead.
WR CHIMERE DIKE
- Tied for the team lead with four receptions and 55 receiving yards.
- Added a seven-yard rushing attempt, a 33-yard kickoff return and a seven-yard punt return.
- Hauled in a 38-yard pass in the first quarter to set up a field goal.
- On his 33-yard kickoff return in the second quarter, he set the NFL rookie record for all-purpose yards in a season, moving past Tim Brown (2,317 with L.A. Raiders in 1988) for the record. He finished the game with a league-high 2,371 all-purpose yards in 2025 with one game remaining.
- Drew a 50-yard pass interference penalty on the Saints defense to set up a touchdown late in the second quarter.
- Became the first NFL player in the Super Bowl era (1966 to present) with at least 45 receptions, 60 kickoff returns and 20 punt returns in a season.
CB KAIIR ELAM
- In the fourth quarter, he recovered a Dante Pettis fumble (forced by Kemon Hall) in the end zone for a touchback. It was Elam's second fumble recovery of the season, a career best.
- Added two tackles and one pass defensed.
LB CEDRIC GRAY
- Finished with a team-high 12 tackles, including a stop for loss.
- After missing the previous week's game with an injury, he recorded nine tackles in the first half. It was his fourth game with at least nine tackles in a half this season, tying Blake Cashman for the most in the NFL.
- With 152 tackles on defense in 2025, he became the team's fourth player since the beginning of the 2000 campaign to reach 150 in a season (GSIS tackle statistics), joining Azeez Al-Shaair (163 in 2023), Stephen Tulloch (160 in 2010) and Keith Bulluck (152 in 2004).
- Joined Azeez Al-Shaiir (163 tackles and nine tackles for loss in 2023) as the only Titans players from 2008 to 2025 to have at least 150 tackles and seven tackles for loss in a season.
CB KEMON HALL
- Recorded his first career forced fumble in the fourth quarter by jarring the ball from Dante Pettis just before he crossed the goal line. Kaiir Elam recovered it in the end zone for a touchback, and the Titans regained possession.
- Added four tackles.
OLB JAYLEN HARRELL
- Recorded his fourth consecutive game with at least a half sack, combining with James Lynch to take down Tyler Shough in the third quarter. His active streak of games with at least a half sack tied Jeffery Simmons for the longest such streak on the team this season.
- Finished with four tackles and an additional quarterback hit.
P JOHNNY HEKKER
- Averaged 50.3 yards (36.3 net) on three punts.
- Recorded a 61-yard punt in the fourth quarter.
WR VAN JEFFERSON
- Posted three receptions for 46 yards before leaving the game in the second quarter with an injury.
- Caught a 27-yard pass from Cam Ward in the second quarter.
OLB ARDEN KEY
- Logged two tackles, including a stop for loss, before leaving the game with an injury in the third quarter.
WR MASON KINSEY
- Recorded a career-long 34-yard reception in the third quarter to help set up a field goal.
DL JAMES LYNCH
- Notched his first half sack of the season, combining with Jaylen Harrell to take down Tyler Shough in the third quarter.
TE DAVID MARTIN-ROBINSON
- Tied for the team lead with two special teams tackles and added a nine-yard reception for a first down.
TE CHIG OKONKWO
- Tied for the team lead with 55 receiving yards on three catches.
- In the second quarter, facing a fourth-and-two, he caught a short pass from Cam Ward and turned it into a 43-yard touchdown. It was his longest reception of the season through 16 games and the second-longest touchdown reception of his career (70-yard touchdown at Houston on Nov. 24, 2024).
- Okonkwo finished the contest with 2,015 career receiving yards, becoming the sixth tight end in franchise history to reach 2,000.
- With one game remaining, his 54 receptions in 2025 are tied for a career high (2023), and his 558 receiving yards have already established a career high for a season. He leads the Titans in both categories.
RB TONY POLLARD
- Rushed for 85 yards on 18 attempts and added 10 yards on two receptions to give him 95 scrimmage yards in the contest.
- On a 25-yard run in the third quarter, he reached the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the fourth consecutive season.
- Became the fifth player in franchise history to record multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons, joining Eddie George (seven), Chris Johnson (six), Earl Campbell (five) and Derrick Henry (five).
- Joined Derrick Henry as the only NFL players with 1,000 rushing yards in each of the last four seasons (2022-25).
- His 452 rushing yards from Week 14 to Week 17 ranked second in the NFL behind Derrick Henry (538) through the early afternoon games of Sunday, Dec. 28.
- Secured his fourth consecutive season with at least 1,200 scrimmage yards and five scrimmage touchdowns. With 1,223 scrimmage yards and five touchdowns in 2025, he joined Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry as the only NFL running backs to have 1,200 scrimmage yards and five scrimmage touchdowns in every campaign from 2022 to 2025.
DT JEFFERY SIMMONS
- Finished with seven tackles, one sack and one forced fumble.
- Recorded his third strip-sack of the season, jarring the ball from Tyler Shough in the first quarter. His third forced fumble in 2025 tied for the most by a defensive tackle this season and established a new career high for Simmons.
- It gave him 7.5 sacks on third down in 2025, good for the second-best total in the NFL behind Myles Garrett (11.0) through the early afternoon games of Sunday, Dec. 28.
- Became the fifth player since 1982, when individual sacks became an official statistic, to register at least 10 sacks and record a touchdown catch in the same season. The last player to do so was J.J. Watt in 2014.
- Logged his fifth consecutive game with at least one sack or two tackles for loss.
- Joined Brian Burns (2025), T.J. Watt (2023) and Khalil Mack (2023) as the NFL's only players from 2023 to 2025 with at least 10 sacks, 65 tackles, three forced fumbles, 16 tackles for loss and three passes defensed in a season.
K JOEY SLYE
- Made all four field goals and both extra point attempts.
- Registered his eighth career game with four made field goals and his third such game of the season.
- In the fourth quarter, he made a 58-yard field goal, which tied for the third-longest field goal of his career and the second-longest field goal in Titans/Oilers history behind Rob Bironas' 60-yarder in 2006.
- Also made field goals from 50 and 38 yards in the first quarter and 28 yards in the third stanza.
- With his eighth and ninth field goals of the season of 50-plus yards, he surpassed Stephen Gostkowski (seven in 2020) for the most field goals of 50-plus yards in a season in franchise history.
- In 2025, Slye has made four of the eight longest field goals in Titans/Oilers history.
- Went over the 100-point mark on the season for the fourth time in his career. With one game remaining, his 109 points in 2025 rank second in his career behind his 120 points with Carolina in 2020.
- His 28 field goals in 2025 rank second in his career (29 with Carolina in 2020) and rank ninth in Titans/Oilers history for a season.
NT T'VONDRE SWEAT
- Finished with four tackles.
QB CAM WARD
- Completed 21-of-40 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions (88.6 passer rating).
- Extended his streak to four consecutive games with at least two touchdown passes, which is the longest such streak for the Titans since Ryan Tannehill's five-game streak in 2020. Ward joined Brock Purdy (2022), Jayden Daniels (2024) and Bo Nix (2024) as the only rookie quarterbacks in the last five seasons (2021 to present) to have such a streak of four or more games.
- In the second quarter, facing a fourth-and-two, he delivered a pass to Chig Okonkwo for a 43-yard touchdown. It was Ward's longest touchdown pass to date.
- Threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Elic Ayomanor late in the second quarter. It was Ward's 15th touchdown pass of the season.
- Connected with Chimere Dike on a 38-yard pass in the first quarter to set up a field goal. He also delivered a 27-yard pass to Van Jefferson in the second quarter and completed a 34-yard pass to Mason Kinsey in the third quarter to help set up a field goal.
- Established the first rookie 3,000-yard passing season in franchise history (3,117) and the 21st overall 3,000-yard season in team annals—the first since Ryan Tannehill in 2021.
- In home games in 2025, he was 197-of-311 passing for 1,864 yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions (86.8 passer rating). The Saints contest marked Ward's sixth consecutive home game without an interception, the longest such streak by any rookie starting quarterback since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger. The only quarterback in 2025 with an active streak longer than Ward's going into Week 18 is Pittsburgh's Aaron Rodgers, who has seven consecutive home games without an interception.
G KEVIN ZEITLER
- Secured his 11th consecutive season with at least 15 starts.
