Ryan Tannehill’s first start for the Titans was a winning one, but the team had to endure some chaos to get there.
The Chargers were down 23-13 in the fourth quarter, but drew within three points on an Austin Ekeler touchdown. Officials ruled they scored twice in the final seconds of the game to pull ahead, but both rulings were overturned by replay reviews and a fumble on the goalline wound up sealing the 23-20 Titans win.
Tannehill was 23-of-29 for 312 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. The 23 completions included a pair of third down completions to A.J. Brown after Ekeler’s touchdown. The second completion didn’t net a first down, however, and Tannehill was ruled short after a questionable spot on a fourth down quarterback sneak. The call was not challenged by Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, who lost a challenge earlier in the game on a Keenan Allen catch.
After the change of possession, the Chargers had a chance to tie or win the game with no timeouts in their pocket. Philip Rivers connected with Mike Williams and Ekeler to move the ball into field goal range and then found Ekeler on a short pass that was initially ruled a touchdown.
A replay review showed Ekeler was down short of the end zone, however, and Melvin Gordon was ruled short of the end zone after another review. The Chargers gave Gordon the ball again, but he fumbled before he got in the end zone and Jurell Casey recovered it for a touchback.
That fumble was also the subject of a review and the entire sequence wasn’t helped by unclear signaling from officials about what ruling they made on the field. Replay showed it was a clear fumble and recovery, however, and the Titans could finally exhale.
They’ll remain at home to face the Buccaneers in a bid to get back to .500 next week. The Chargers will try to snap their three-game losing streak in Chicago.