Defense carries the night for Tennessee in LA

Fifth straight victory includes a pick-6 of Stafford, plus five sacks

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Kevin Byard returned Matthew Stafford’s second consecutive interception 24 yards for a touchdown, and Tennessee’s defense carried the Titans to a 28-16 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in a showdown between conference co-leaders Sunday night.

Jeffery Simmons had three of Tennessee’s five sacks of Stafford during a stifling performance against the Rams’ prolific passing offense. Stafford crucially threw back-to-back interceptions that the Titans turned into 14 points in 11 seconds of the second quarter, sending them well on their way to their fifth consecutive victory.

“Those guys played fantastic,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said of his defense. “It was fun to watch them play. … We really think that group is playing with a lot of confidence right now.”

Ryan Tannehill passed for 143 yards and a touchdown and rushed for another score for the Titans (7-2), who managed just 194 offensive yards in their first game without injured NFL rushing leader Derrick Henry.

Adrian Peterson rushed for just 21 yards, but the veteran running back made a 6-yard TD run with 3:00 left in the first game of his 15th NFL season.

The Titans got a key stop on downs near midfield with 6:39 to play, and Tennessee’s defense nearly kept the Rams out of the end zone for just the fourth time in 73 games under Sean McVay — but Sony Michel caught a 3-yard TD pass with 24 seconds left.

The Titans’ defense dramatically changed the game in the second quarter. Stafford inexplicably flung a desperate pass into the heart of the defense to avoid taking a sack for a safety, and David Long returned his interception to the Rams 2.