Titans Show There's Room for Improvement in 19-16 Win Over the Seahawks

NASHVILLE – The Titans were looking to show improvement on Sunday night in preseason game No. 2.

Instead, the team's front-liners showed there's still work to be done before the regular season kicks off in a few weeks.

The back-ups, however, fought to the end in a comeback win.

The Titans beat the Seahawks 19-16 at Nissan Stadium, as running back D'Ernest Johnson scored on a two-yard touchdown run with 5:45 remaining.

Quarterback Cam Ward played three series, and he completed 8-of-12 passes for 69 yards before being relieved by Mitchell Trubisky in the second quarter with the team trailing 16-3.

Defensively, the Titans had trouble getting stops with their first teamers on the field against Seattle's back-ups on offense.

It was a good day for kicker Joey Slye, who was a perfect 4-for-4 kicking field goals. And, the team's back-ups pulled out the win after the team dug itself into an early hole, resulting in a celebration at the end.

Yet overall, there's no denying it was a disappointing performance for the starters after what was a promising showing in a joint practice with the Seahawks on Friday at Vanderbilt Health Football Center.

But the preseason is all about finding consistency and getting better, and that will be the focus of the team heading into the final week of training camp, and the preseason finale on Saturday.

The win improved Tennessee's record to 2-0 in the preseason, after they beat the 49ers the previous week.

It was a shaky start for the Titans, who allowed a long touchdown drive on Seattle's opening possession, and then a long touchdown run when the Seahawks got the ball back.

Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock connected with tight end Elijah Arroyo on the game's seventh play to make it 7-0 early. After a 55-yard field goal by Slye made it 7-3, Seattle scored on a 61-yard touchdown run by Jacardia Wright to make it 13-3 with 5:43 left in the first quarter. A 45-yard field goal by Seahawks kicker Jason Myers made it 16-3 at the 1:20 mark of the first quarter.

The Titans cut the lead to 16-6 with 5:27 left in the second quarter on another field goal by Slye, this one from 33 yards, and it was 16-9 at the half after a 40-yard field goal by Slye.

After an interception by rookie linebacker Anthony Hill Jr., Slye's fourth field goal of the night, from 43 yards, made it 16-12 with 14:55 left in the fourth quarter.

After Trubisky replaced Ward in the second quarter, the Titans played with back-ups the rest of the way on offense. The team followed a similar plan on the defensive side of the football, as starters played three series and were done at the end of the first quarter.

Will Levis started the second half for the Titans, and he directed a 13-play, 64-yard scoring drive at the end that was capped off by Johnson's run. Hendon Hooker finished the game at quarterback for the Titans.

An interception by linebacker Derrick Canteen sealed the win for the Titans at the end.

The Titans wrap up the preseason next Saturday against the Chicago Bears at Nissan Stadium.

The team will kick off the regular season at home on September 13 against the New York Jets.