NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans (3-14) lost to the New Orleans Saints (6-10) in Week 17. While the NFL does not reward moral victories, a team like Tennessee in 2025 certainly must settle for some as they try to build around rookie quarterback Cam Ward.

This Sunday continued a Titans scoring trend that should reassure fans about Ward’s professional progress.

Titans offensive production

Tennessee ranked 31st in touchdowns per game going into Week 17.

You could look at that season average and rightly accuse them of being one of the worst offenses in the league. The season average total, however does not accurately reflect how big of a jump the Titans made in the month of December. Tennessee went 2-2 in the final month of the season with wins at the Browns and in Nashville against the Chiefs, while dropping games at the Niners and versus the Saints.

In that month, Ward has eight touchdown with one interception and one lost fumble.

The Titans have an additional four scores on the ground. If extrapolating their three touchdowns per game this month across a full-season sample size, Tennessee’s offense would tie for 8th best in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys this year. Moral victory or not, it is undeniable progress.

“I think if you look at how we played the last month of the season, really, you can see the growth of the team,” said interim Titans head coach Mike McCoy. “Being 2-1 heading into this game, going to Cleveland, getting the win, unfortunately we came up short in San Francisco. They had the phenomenal game last week [against] Kansas City. You see the way the entire team played, the way we started and started playing today, I think there’s so many positives you look at. We knew it was going to be challenging throughout the year and how it was going to go. It’s hard to win in the NFL. But I think you see the way Cam’s (Ward) starting to play and the more plays he’s making. I mean, you’ve got Jeff (Simmons) on defense. You can’t build—he’s the pillar of the defense, and the way he played, once again today, it’s week in and week out. I think there’s been a lot of growth this year on the team. It’s great for—there’s a bright future here. You look at it and the amount of snaps these rookies have played, you are just speaking offensively, Cam is playing with the three rookies with him in the skilled positions. Those snaps are invaluable for their futures.

“The amount of snaps that Cam’s gotten this year, the way he’s improved, it’s only going to help the organization, Cam, the offense. Then you look at the amount of plays, really, in the secondary part of Marcus (Harris) and Kevin (Winston Jr.) and, unfortunately, they both got dinged and they’re not playing right now. You look at Marcus, and both those guys really, at playing not just one position, but two positions. So I think you look at this rookie class and you say this was a really good group moving forward. Give Mike (Borgonzi) and the whole staff credit for the guys we brought in here to help us get to where we are today. They’ve got a really, really bright future. The thing I love about them, too, is that they truly love the game. They are the first ones in, the last ones to leave often. And you guys wrote the article early about Cam being here bright and early in the offseason. And that’s how they all are. I mean, you walk in, by a room, late at night sometimes, and they’re all sitting in there watching tape. So, they’ve all got a really bright future. It’s great to see.”

It is, by far, the most expansive answer that McCoy has given on any one subject since taking over for the fired Brian Callahan heading into Week 7 of this season.

Tennessee finishes their regular season on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars (12-4).

Featured Image: USA TODAY Sports.