Cam Ward's Tennessee Titans offense goes bust in Vegas loss to Raiders | Estes

LAS VEGAS — Rapid reaction from the Tennessee Titans' 20-10 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Oct. 12 at Allegiant Stadium:

Talking points

• Can’t blame the defense for this one. The offense, on the other hand? Ugh. Any offensive momentum from an exciting victory in Arizona on Oct. 5 dissipated in the opening stages of this game, because the Titans’ offense showed up looking like the Titans' offense again, gaining 27 yards on its first 20 plays. Even worse, a pair of first-half turnovers by quarterback Cam Ward resulted in the deficit being 10-0 at halftime. That score flattered the Raiders, because they needed to go just 2 yards for their touchdown after a sack/fumble by Ward. Oh, and he was picked off in the final moments of the second quarter in Raiders territory, with the offense showing signs of life for the first time all afternoon and about to finally dent the scoreboard. It just wasn't good enough, and that applies to Ward and the entire Titans offense.

• As for Ward, he got a bit better once the day was already lost, padding stats before one final turnover in the final minute. But it had been far too little too late, anyway. Were it not for the Titans’ miraculous comeback and Ward’s strong final quarter against the Cardinals, we’d be talking more about his deepening struggles becoming a trend in recent weeks. This Raiders game, like others, offered occasional nice throws from Ward. But overall, it isn’t going well for him. He has talent, but he still isn’t consistently playing winning football for a team that won’t have a chance without getting more from its rookie quarterback.

• Jeffery Simmons continues to play like a force and a bright spot for these Titans. In the Raiders’ opening possession, his presence was worth at least four points, as he stepped up to hold the drive to a field goal. Later, he forced Raiders quarterback Geno Smith into an interception early in the fourth quarter. These were just additional instances of what has become commonplace in Titans games this season. This is setting up to be a career year for Simmons, and it’s a shame that it’s going to be overshadowed by how bad the Titans are collectively.

• More bad news for a slumping offense: Receiver Calvin Ridley was sidelined in the first half by a hamstring injury and was declared out for the rest of the game. Ridley already had been playing through knee and elbow issues (and those are the ones that we knew about), but a hamstring could be more of a lingering problem. Losing Ridley was not an encouraging development, with Mike Vrabel’s New England Patriots up next.

Where the game turned

During the first half of this game, the Titans’ pass rush was as effective as it has been in a while. Against a shaky Raiders O-line, the Titans were more active. They made things happen. They had seven TFLs before halftime, which was the franchise’s highest total in the first half of any game since 2012 (per Titans’ public relations).

A potential sack-fumble by Jihad Ward, which was returned for a touchdown by Cody Barton, ended up being ruled an incomplete pass on replay. But it was a precursor to additional pressure by the Titans on Smith, including one stop in the second quarter that frustrated Raiders fans enough to prompt loud boos for their offense.

How did the Titans take advantage of this? They fumbled on their own 2-yard line, basically handing the Raiders a touchdown and a two-score lead at halftime. Las Vegas linebacker Devin White blitzed and forced that massive fumble by Ward, swinging a close game in the home team’s direction.

Key number

2 — First downs by the Titans’ offense on their first five possessions. None of those drives ended up being longer than 12 yards, and it all came out to a whopping 1.1 net yards per play. What a terrible start after such an encouraging finish to the Oct. 5 to last week’s Titans game.

What I liked

The Titans’ defense, for the most part, played well enough to win. Heck, Barton came closer to scoring a touchdown than any of the offensive players did during this game's first three quarters.

What I didn’t like

Switching play callers to Bo Hardegree hasn’t been the answer for this offense, which has been awful for all but about one quarter (the final one at Arizona) since the move. Much of that falls on Ward, but the Titans aren’t doing enough to help him progress and build confidence. Too often, in fact, the play-calling suggests a lack of confidence in Ward.

Example: In the game’s first possession, the Titans ran Tony Pollard three times for 9 yards and punted on fourth-and-1, setting a tone for the afternoon. In the second half, trailing 17-0, the Titans called a run play on third-and-18, gaining 4 yards and settling for a field goal that wasn’t much use.

Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at [email protected] and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Cam Ward's Tennessee Titans offense goes bust in Las Vegas