Titans vs Jaguars: Live Recap, Open Thread

The Tennessee Titans (1-0) host the Jacksonville Jaguars (surprisingly 1-0 also) at Nissan Stadium today at 12 p.m. Central Daylight Time.

Throughout the season, you can count on us to have threads like this one, which will be updated frequently during each and every game.

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Let’s get ready for some football!

Live Updates

The Titans are on the field warming up now.

Kickoff:

The Titans took the ball and struck first with hit a huge 62-yard completion off play-action to Jonnu Smith on the very first play. Two plays later, Ryan Tannehill found Smith in the end zone on a leaping grab for a 13-yard touchdown. Gostkowski nailed the extra point with no problem, and the home team took an early 7-0 lead.

After a touchback, the Jaguars converted on consecutive third downs with completions from Minshew to Shenault. The Titans forced another third down and an incompletion, but a 4th-down scramble by Minshew moved the chains with Jacksonville driving into Titans territory. A couple plays later, rookie Kristian Fulton came up with his first interception on a pass deflected by fellow rookie Collin Johnson and returned it all the way to the Jaguars’ 30 yard line.

A failed screen led to a third-and-six, but Tannehill found tight end Anthony Firkser at the 11-yard line to move into the red zone. Two plays later, Tannehill fired a bullet into the back of the end zone to Corey Davis, who made an outstanding effort to get both feet down in bounds for his first touchdown of the season. Gostkowski again with absolutely no problems at all hit the extra point and in less than ten minutes, Tennessee led 14-0.

On the Jaguars’ next possession, D.J. Chark beat Malcolm Butler deep with Johnathan Joseph over the top and squeezed a pass in between them all the way to the Titans’ 19 yard line. On 3rd and 10, Minshew found tight end Tyler Eiffert with a nice throw over the tight coverage by Kenny Vaccaro in the end zone. Jaguars answer, cutting the Titans lead in half, 14-7.

Two Cameron Batson touches and three false starts later, Adam Humphries took a screen 12 yards before Tannehill found Firkser for 10 more to move the chains on 3rd and 5. The Titans were able to convert a couple of third downs, but on the ensuring 3rd and 9, Tannehill was sacked and the Titans were forced to bring out Brett Kern at the opponent’s 40-yard line.

The Jaguars took over at their own 5 and quickly moved to their own 40-yard line. Harold Landry showed up with some pressure, and a few plays later, Jack Crawford chased down Minshew all the way back to the Jaguars’ 32, a loss of 20 yards. The Titans got the stop on 3rd and 28, and Kalif Raymond fielded the punt at the Titans’ 15 yard line.

The Titans worked downfield methodically, helped by a big pass interference penalty on a pass intended for Jonnu Smith. Derrick Henry finally got going a little bit, running for gains of 6, 7, 14. and a 7 yarder on 3rd-and-3 down to the Jacksonville 10. On 3rd and goal, Tannehill hit Jonnu underneath and he barreled into the end zone for his second, Tannehill’s third, touchdown of the day; Titans set to kick off up 21-7.

The Jaguars moved the ball well in the 2-minute drill and kicked a field goal with 15 seconds left in the half. The following kickoff went awry for the Jaguars, with the squib attempt going straight to the front man Josh Kalu. A quick completion to Firkser put the Titans in position for a Gostkowski 51-yard try. With Titans fans holding their breath, Gostkowski barely sneaked the ball inside the bottom right of the uprights, giving the Titans a 24-10 halftime lead.

End 1st Half: Titans 24, Jaguars 7

To start the second half, the Jaguars returner fumbled the kickoff. That was about the only thing that went wrong for Jacksonville, as Minshew strung together completion after completion with James Robinson running hard, and Robinson finally took the 14th play of the 89-yard drive in for a 17-yard touchdown.

The Titans started moving the ball on the ground a little bit, with Henry laying a nasty stiff arm on a 14-yard run. Davis got involved again with a 17-yard catch and run over the middle; Senorise Perry even got a pair of carries with the Titans running a hurry-up no huddle, picking up a first down of his own. On 3rd and 9 from the 18, Tannehill fired a beautiful arcing pass while taking a huge hit in the pocket right into Adam Humphries arms for his fourth touchdown pass of the day. Titans answer the Jaguars and re-extend their lead, 30-17 (Gostkowski doinked the extra point off the left upright).

The Jaguars remained intent on making this game a shoot-out. James Robinson had a catch followed by a 39-yard run bursting through the middle of the defense to set the Jaguars up in the red zone. After the break between the third and fourth quarters, Robinson moved the ball to the 2-yard line. A couple plays later, Minshew found Keelan Cole in the back of the end zone, drawing defenders forward by threatening the bootleg run. The extra point drifted wide right to keep the Titans’ lead at 30-23.

The Titans got the ball back but struggled to get anything going. Jacksonville concentrated all efforts on stopping Henry, and on a 3rd-and-1 toss play to the boundary, the Jags took Henry down in the backfield. Titans punted away nursing a 7 point lead, with Jacksonville taking over deep in their own territory.

Again, Jacksonville quickly moved the ball to midfield. Vaccaro managed to sack Minshew for a loss of 4, but Jacksonville overcame the third down and continued driving. On 3rd-and-8 from the Titans’ 14 yard line, with Clowney bearing down, Minshew lofted a perfect pass dropped right in the bucket for Chris Thompson over great coverage by Jayon Brown in the end zone to tie the game at 30 with 7:25 to go.

The Titans moved the ball a bit, but an unsuccessful screen on 3rd-and-8 across midfield resulted in a short punt. Jacksonville picked up a first down, but another pressure and quarterback hit by Clowney forced an incompletion on 3rd and 9. The Titans took over at their own 40 yard line with 3:29 to play.

2:00 warning. Tie game 30-30, Titans have the ball, 2nd and 5 at the JAX 44.

On 3rd and 5 at the 44, Myles Jack wrapped his arm around Firkser and put the Titans in a 1st-down situation on the cusp of field goal range. After a Henry run for no gain, Marrone took his second timeout with 1:51 remaining, 2nd and 10 for the Titans. The Titans got to the JAX 31, setting up a 49-yard field goal for Gostkowski with 1:41 on the clock. Gostkowski’s go-ahead attempt soared through the uprights, putting all the pressure on Minshew and the Jacksonville offense.

Titans kicked off leading 33-30 with 1:36 left in the game. Clowney forced Minshew to scramble on 1st down, and he was tackled in bounds after a gain of 11. The next play was completed but also in bounds, at the JAX 46 yard line.

On the next play, Minshew’s pass was batted up at the line of scrimmage by Big Jeffrey Simmons, and Landry corralled it to seal the Titans win. Tannehill kneeled out the clock, and the Titans locked up their first 2-0 start since 2008.

Final: Titans 33, Jaguars 30

Author: Justin GraverPerhaps best known as @titansfilmroom on Twitter, Justin Graver has been writing and creating content about the NFL and the Tennessee Titans for nearly a decade as a longtime staff writer (and social media manager) for the SB Nation site Music City Miracles. Although JG no longer writes for Broadway Sports, his Music City Audible podcast with co-host Justin Melo continues.