Even after blowing an early 10-point lead, the Tennessee Titans were very much in contention to pick up their first win since mid-October, but as fast as Jordan Todman can run 62 yards, they were dropped to 2-13.
Titans vs. Jaguars 2014 final score: 3 things we learned from Jacksonville’s 21-13 win
One of the worst primetime matchups in the history of the NFL at least turned out to be a competitive game.
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With the Titans down by just four midway through the fourth quarter, Todman broke loose for the longest run by a Jaguar since 2010, effectively sealing Jacksonville’s 21-13 win.
The Jaguars spotted Tennessee a 10-0 lead after Leon Washington grabbed an eight-yard touchdown pass from Charlie Whitehurst and Ryan Succop drilled a 50-yard field goal. But after four consecutive punts to open the game, a Jacksonville offense that had found the end zone just once over the previous nine quarters marched 80 yards in just over three minutes to score a touchdown. With just 30 seconds left in the half, Blake Bortles hit Marcedes Lewis on a fade route to make it 10-7.
Toby Gerhart plowed into the end zone from a yard out to cap the opening drive of the second half, and just like that the Jags had the lead. Todman's long run came roughly a quarter later.
Outside of another Succop field goal, the Titans never mounted an answer.
1) All things considered, this game actually wasn’t that bad.
With both teams entering at 2-12, this was literally one of the worst primetime matchups in the history of the league. Sure, every team in the league is required to play a Thursday night game, but could the NFL at least have put this somewhere at the beginning of the season? Even Don Cheadle sounded like he wanted to be somewhere else during the game’s intro montage.
Want some historical perspective on the wretchedness of this matchup? Here ya go:
Titans-Jags have combined win % of .143, lowest win % for 2 teams meeting 14 games into season since 2-13 Bucs defeated 1-14 Colts in 1991.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 18, 2014 The game actually ended up being relatively watchable. The good thing about two equally terrible teams playing each other is that they're at least evenly matched. That hasn't been the case for much of the Thursday night schedule this season: six of the first 14 games were decided by 18 points or more and three of them have been blowouts of at least 31 points.
So at least this one was close.
2) NFL Network guys would rather be golfing.
Marshall Faulk and Rich Eisen were so uninterested that they decided to hit the links during halftime.
Nothing about that looks safe.
3) The Titans stay alive for the No. 1 pick.
Let’s be honest, the only real intrigue to this game was its impact on the draft order. If you look at it like an inverse playoff game, the Titans were the real winners here. At 3-12, the Jaguars are pretty much out of the running for the top pick with one game remaining.
Tennessee, which could use a quarterback such as Marcus Mariota, remains right in the hunt, tied at the bottom with the two-win Buccaneers and Raiders. If the season ended tonight, the Titans would be picking at No. 2 behind Tampa Bay because the Bucs own the tiebreaker in the form of the easier strength of schedule. That means the Titans likely need to lose next week against the Colts and hope Tampa wins one of their last two games.
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