The Tennessee Titans coaching staff should be kicking themselves after giving away a winning opportunity in Baltimore. The Titans fell 24-18 to the Ravens in Derrick Henry‘s reunion game, and a late Cam Ward rally wasn’t enough to avoid an 0-4 start.

If anybody is complaining about Ward after this one, they are fooling themselves.

Yes, the box score shows an interception next to his name. That one isn’t on him at all. Tennessee’s offense moved the ball well throughout the first quarter. To me, it was the best opening quarter this team has played all season. The problem is the Titans just couldn’t get out of their own way.

The interception that wasn’t on Cam Ward

The Titans opened with a 15-yard catch on the first play of the game and were already in Baltimore territory on the second snap. Ward felt pressure, stepped up in the pocket, and hit Tony Pollard on a checkdown over the middle.

The ball went off Pollard’s hands, popped straight up, and landed with a Ravens defender. He returned it a good distance, and Henry capped the short field with a touchdown run.

Ward and Pollard complete that play all the time. It should have been a catch, or at worst an incompletion in the dirt.

“I just think I can make it easier for him,” Ward said postgame. “Me and Tony, we’ve hit on that play a lot of times last year. But you know, I know for him, he wants that play back. I want it back. But I think you know, if I can, you know, put in his chest a little bit more and make it easier for him, then he’ll have a chance to get a field.”

Tennessee answered with a 10-play, 70-yard drive that ate six minutes of clock, and Pollard redeemed himself with a touchdown run to tie it 7-7. After a trade of punts, Baltimore went 81 yards in under three minutes to take a 14-7 lead.

Brian Daboll’s fourth-and-goal call was incomprehensible

Then came the play that swung the game.

The Titans put together another 10-play drive, this time 73 yards over four minutes, and faced fourth-and-goal from the 2. I agree with the decision to go for it. What I don’t agree with is the Wildcat direct snap to Pollard.

It had no chance. The Ravens snuffed it out for zero yards, then marched eight plays and 98 yards to go up 21-7. That’s a 14-point swing.

Why is this so frustrating? Tennessee got stopped on a direct snap to Pollard at the goal line just last week. If you want to run it on third-and-goal because you’re already planning to go for it on fourth, fine. On fourth-and-goal, you have nothing to lose, and taking the quarterback out of the picture makes you incredibly easy to defend.

Pollard isn’t Derrick Henry leaping over the pile or to throw a pop-pass, and that hasn’t been his game at any point in his career. Ward, meanwhile, leads the team in rushing touchdowns through four games. Keep him under center and give him a play-action or RPO look to make a play.

Robert Saleh’s answer about the play call postgame wasn’t any better.

“Felt like we were running the ball pretty well. It’s something I’ll definitely have a conversation with (Brian Daboll) about. But I do know that in those situations, the guys work their tails off to make sure that we’re calling the best play for those situations based on what we’ve seen on tape. And so I’m pleased with the preparation that goes into it, and we’ll watch the tape and figure out what we could have done better, if anything at all.”

By my count, the Titans ran eight snaps at or inside the 10-yard line across those two drives. All eight were runs to Pollard. Are they scared to let Ward throw because he threw an interception against the Giants? In my opinion, it’s ridiculous play calling from Titans offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.

Carnell Tate’s fumble turns a field goal chance into Ravens points

The defense got a stop to keep it 21-7, and Tennessee got the ball back with 53 seconds left in the half. On the second play, Ward threw a great deep ball to Carnell Tate for 33 yards. . . and Kyle Hamilton punched it out from behind at the Baltimore 35.

The Titans were already in field goal range with roughly 35 seconds to work with. Instead, the Ravens hit an 11-yard pass and a 13-yard pass before Lamar Jackson took a sack and left the game with an injury. Tyler Loop then drilled a 64-yard field goal as time expired.

Instead of 21-10 or 21-7, it was 24-7 at halftime.

“The frustrating one is we get the explosive at the end of the half, where we’re about to go score to make it 21-10 minimum. And you look up and it’s 24-7,” Saleh said. “You’re just you’re in these situations where you’re moving it well, and we shoot ourselves in the foot.”

Count them up. A 14-point swing followed by a six-point swing, all because of mistakes and bad decisions made by the people surrounding Ward.

Defense gave Tennessee every chance in the second half

With Tyler Huntley at quarterback, Baltimore was practically inviting the Titans back. Tennessee opened the third quarter with a 10-play, 76-yard drive for a field goal to make it 24-10. The defense then forced punts on the Ravens’ first four possessions of the second half and forced a missed field goal with about three and a quarter minutes left.

The offense couldn’t take advantage. A zero-yard three-and-out, then three more straight three-and-outs between the field goal and the final touchdown drive. Ward was pressing and missed two third-down throws with bad ball placement. He’s not perfect, and those drives have to be better.

But when you had to have it, he delivered. On fourth-and-11, Ward rolled right in a have-to-have-it situation and found Tate across the field for 33 yards down to the 3. On the next play, Wan’Dale Robinson caught a 3-yard touchdown with 1:12 left, and Gunnar Helm hauled in the 2-point conversion to make it 24-18. The onside kick didn’t work, and that was that.

Ward finished 20-of-31 for 222 yards, one touchdown pass, and that non-interception interception. He was sacked once, had three throwaways, and took care of the football. If that’s how he’s going to play, I’m fine with it. 

This team doesn’t have the margin of error to survive one player out of 11 goofing something up. Right now, that keeps happening.

“Any team that shoots itself in the foot three times… Two turnovers and a turnover on downs inside the five. You’re going to struggle with points,” Saleh said postgame.

Carnell Tate had his big day, too: nine catches on 12 targets for 145 yards, including two 33-yard grabs. It’s just a bummer about the fumble.

The defense held Henry to 73 yards on 23 carries with a long of 14 and sacked Jackson twice. Zay Flowers was the problem, posting eight catches for 118 yards and a touchdown, with most of the damage coming in the first half.

The 0-4 Titans host the 0-4 Houston Texans next at Nissan Stadium after Houston fell to a Dak Prescott-led Dallas rally in Week 4. Tennessee keeps finding new ways to lose. . . we’ll see if it can find a way to win one.