The Titans May Have Won, But Cam Ward Still Has to Improve... and He Knows It

The Tennessee Titans picked up their first win in emphatic fashion, as they overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to beat the Indianapolis Colts 26-20.

This was the Titans’ first win over the Colts since 2022. More importantly, it finally gives Tennessee something positive to build off of. Things certainly looked bleak in the first half. The Titans seemed well on their way to a sixth straight loss after being out-gained by 168 yards over the first two quarters. 

In total, Tennessee produced just 64 yards of offense and three first downs. 

Giving Ward credit in spite of his struggles

QB Cam Ward accounted for 37 of those yards with an ugly interception on top of it. It was the kind of half that made you wonder how much longer this was truly sustainable. Fortunately, Ward played better in the second half, albeit nothing truly noteworthy outside of a couple of nice throws to rookie WR Carnell Tate. 

Going into the third quarter, the Titans had an active streak of 13 consecutive scoreless drives dating back to last week. That streak came to a screeching halt after halftime as the Titans dropped 26 points over the final two quarters.

While the major nod has to go to the defense and special teams for their second-half performances, credit has to be given to the Titans’ young signal caller for making the winning plays when they were there to be made.

After Sunday’s win, Ward talked about the importance of complementary football on a day where all three units fed off each other to complete the second-half comeback. 

“I think going into the second half, we didn’t play how we wanted to offensively. We still got a lot of things to clean up offensively. But the mindset didn’t change in the locker room," said Ward.

"It was a two-possession game coming out (of the half). Defense gave us a great turnover, and we were able to capitalize on that with a field goal. We really need seven, though. But at the end of the day, I think all three phases complemented each other at the right time.”

Ward's budding connection with Carnell Tate

The second-year quarterback also talked about his budding connection with Tennessee’s rookie pass catcher and how important he is to this offense.

“He’s real big (for the team). He’s a great contested catcher like you seen today. He’s good at scramble drill. But the biggest thing about him is he doesn’t show no emotion. Each and every drive, no matter what happens, he comes back, he wants the football, and he’s trying to make plays for the team.”

Tate was undoubtedly the focal point of the offense. He accounted for 68 percent of Ward’s yardage on the day, catching six balls for 70 yards, along with the first touchdown of his career:

However, outside of Tate, no other pass-catcher topped 22 receiving yards, resulting in Ward totaling just 102 passing yards for the game. 

That’s something that has to change for this offense to truly take off. There will be times when Tate is taken away, and somebody else will have to step up. Unfortunately, nobody has proven that they’re capable of doing that for this team just yet.

But in reality, for any of that to happen, they’ll need more efficient play out of their young quarterback going forward, which is something Ward acknowledged after the game.

“I gotta improve each and every day. There’s still a lot of stuff that we have to clean up offensively. There’s a lot of plays that we want back for sure. But at the end of the day, we’ll take an ugly win over a loss each and every week."

The Titans are taking the correct approach to a win like this. Enjoy it, but make no mistake about it, there’s still a lot of work to be done before this team reaches its full potential. 

“We know [we have to be better]...'', Ward said. “we’ll enjoy this for the next couple of hours, and as we get into the building tomorrow, it’s time to reset and try to get a win next week.” The Titans face the Browns next Sunday as they try to win consecutive games for the first time since November 2022.