Titans end their winless start in Indianapolis

The Tennessee Titans trailed by 13 points at halftime on Sunday in Indianapolis, and their offense had given them almost nothing to work with. Read more: Titans end their winless start in Indianapolis

They still won, 26-20 over the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium, the Titans' first victory of 2026 and the first for new head coach Robert Saleh. Indianapolis had entered as 6.5-point favorites, a reasonable line for a team that was 0-5.

Tennessee's defense and special teams did almost all of it. The unit sacked Colts quarterback Daniel Jones six times, forced three takeaways and blocked a punt for a touchdown, while the offense finished with only 102 passing yards.

The defense takes over

Jeffery Simmons had two of the sacks and forced a fumble from Jonathan Taylor in the third quarter, then recovered it himself. The game moved him past Ted Washington into 10th on the franchise's career sack list, with 46.5 for his career. Jermaine Johnson II added two more sacks, and Jacob Martin and Tony Adams each had one.

Amani Hooker intercepted a pass at the Colts' 6-yard line in the first quarter and finished with a career-high 13 tackles. Cor'Dale Flott picked off another pass in the third quarter. The defense also batted down nine passes, its most in a game since last December, and had seven tackles for loss, the team's third game this season with at least that many.

The signature play came on a Colts punt. Julius Chestnut blocked it, and Oluwafemi Oladejo scooped the loose ball and returned it for a touchdown. It was the Titans' first blocked-punt score since October 30, 2011, against these same Colts, and the first in the league all season.

Offense finds just enough

Cam Ward completed 11 of 22 passes for just 102 yards. He did throw one touchdown, an 8-yard pass to rookie receiver Carnell Tate, Tate's first career score. Tony Pollard ran for a season-high 76 yards on 19 carries, and Wan'Dale Robinson stretched his streak of games with a catch to 48.

Related: Titans sink to worse start since 2009

Jonathan Taylor's fourth-quarter touchdown run pulled Indianapolis even at 20, and for a moment it looked like the Colts might finish their own rally. Joey Slye did not let them. He made all four of his field goal attempts, from 29, 44, 49 and 56 yards. The 56-yarder tied for the fifth-longest in franchise history, and the 49-yarder put Tennessee back in front for good.

Indianapolis's final possession ended without a point, and so did Tennessee's long wait. The win was the franchise's 500th all-time, regular season and playoffs combined, closing out an 0-5 start under its new coach.

Tennessee is 1-1 in the AFC South and hosts Cleveland next Sunday. It was the kind of all-around game the Titans had not played all season, with the defense and special teams doing the work that let Ward and the offense protect a lead.

The kick was good, and the Titans walked off winners.