Afc-leading Titans bottle up Rams
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 offense. Stafford threw back-to-back interceptions that the Titans turned into 14 points in 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. They would be able to come in here and play the way they did and hold them to field goals, and we played great in the red zone.”
Ryan Tannehill passed for 143 yards and a touchdown and rushed for another score for the Titans (72), who managed just 194 offensive yards in their first game without injured NFL rushing leader Derrick Henry.
Newly-signed Adrian Peterson rushed for just 21 yards, but the 36-year-old veteran had a 6-yard TD run 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 Long returned his interception to the Rams’ 2-yard line.
Geoff Swaim caught a touchdown on the next snap — and right after the kickoff, Stafford’s throw to Robert Woods on the sideline was returned by Byard for his first career
pick-six.
Stafford passed for 294 yards and threw the 24th pick-six of his career — most among active quarterbacks — during easily the worst game of his debut season with the Rams (7-2). Los Angeles’ four-game win streak ended in just the fourth meeting in 15 years between teams with their conferences’ top records.
After generating MVP talk for his outstanding start to the season, Stafford looked shaky and confused in the first half. He barely practiced during the week while managing a stiff back, and he played on after incurring an ankle injury during the game.