Titans' Fourth-Quarter Lead Vanishes Against Eagles

Cam Ward scored twice with his legs on Sunday, and the Titans still lost.

Philadelphia beat Tennessee 24-20 at Nissan Stadium, improving to 2-0. The Titans fell to 0-2 in Robert Saleh's first season as head coach.

Tennessee led 7-0 in the first quarter on Ward's one-yard touchdown run, set up by an Amani Hooker interception. Hooker picked off Jalen Hurts in the end zone and returned it 92 yards before he was brought down just short of the goal line, handing Ward a short field to work with.

The Eagles answered in the second quarter. Tank Bigsby scored on a two-yard run to tie it, then Hurts found DeVonta Smith for a 22-yard touchdown to make it 14-7. Joey Slye's 37-yard field goal cut the deficit to 14-10 at halftime.

A Jake Elliott field goal opened the third-quarter scoring and pushed Philadelphia's lead to 17-10. Ward answered with his second one-yard touchdown run of the day, tying it at 17-17 heading into the fourth.

Slye put Tennessee back in front with a 33-yard field goal, 20-17, and the Titans held the lead into the fourth quarter's final minutes. Hurts drove Philadelphia downfield in six plays and under two minutes, hitting Darius Cooper for a three-yard touchdown with nine seconds on the clock. The Eagles won it, 24-20.

Philadelphia controlled the ball for 36 minutes and 25 seconds to Tennessee's 23:35, and outgained the Titans 341 total yards to 291. The Titans outrushed the Eagles anyway, 122 yards to 89, on three fewer carries. They did not turn the ball over. Philadelphia did, twice, both interceptions of Hurts, Hooker's in the first quarter and a fourth-quarter pick by cornerback Marcus Harris, his first in the NFL. The Eagles won by four anyway.

Ward finished 13 of 20 for 183 yards passing with no touchdowns and no interceptions, adding 7 yards and two scores on four carries. He has not thrown a pick in 173 straight attempts, the second-longest streak in franchise history behind Marcus Mariota's 205. This site reported last week that Ward went 19 of 32 for 140 yards in the Titans' 23-10 loss to the Jets. Sunday was the cleaner day, even in defeat.

Philadelphia had trouble of its own. Saquon Barkley took a stinger on the Eagles' first offensive snap, stuffed by Titans tackle Jeffery Simmons for no gain. Drew Kendall made his second career start at center for Philadelphia, in a ground game that managed just 2.8 yards a rush.

"First half wasn't good enough," Saleh said afterward. "Thought we played well in the second half, minus that last drive."

Asked whether losing by four points instead of thirteen felt different, Saleh said no. "It sucks losing," Saleh said. "Whether you lose by 100 or lose in the last second, it doesn't matter. They all suck."