It wasn’t pretty, but the Tennessee Titans beat the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night football (Oct. 16). The 36-22 victory by the Titans improved the team to 3-3 on the season and gave them an important win against an AFC South rival. The end result is that the Titans are now tied with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans for first place in the division.
The AFC South could really go down to the wire this season, with all four teams looking very similar to one another.
The top three have to also hope that they can create some distance from the Colts before quarterback Andrew Luck returns to the field. As it stands, the Titans hold the tiebreaker with a 2-1 record within the division, giving the team first place for the time being.
Titans vs. Colts game recap
The Tennessee Titans ended up beating the Indianapolis Colts thanks to 21 points in the fourth quarter alone. The Colts actually had a 19-15 lead after three quarters, despite struggling quite a bit to move the ball on offense. Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett completed 21-of-37 passes for 212 yards and a touchdown.
Leading the running game for the Colts was Frank Gore, who had 49 yards on 10 carries for the night.
For the Titans, quarterback Marcus Mariota completed 23-of-32 passes for 306 yards. He finished with one touchdown pass and one interception on his stat line. Running back Derrick Henry had 131 yards and a touchdown, while DeMarco Murray finished with 40 yards and a touchdown of his own. Leading the receivers was Eric Decker, who had seven catches for 88 yards thanks to frequent usage by Mariota.
What’s next for the Titans and Colts?
The Indianapolis Colts almost pulled off an upset that could have had fans around the league talking more about the team than the disruption that Vice President Mike Pence created. This could have been a huge bump in the NFL standings, as the Colts would have been tied for first in the AFC South.
At 2-4, the team now needs to prepare for a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars that they will host on Oct. 22. It’s also going to be an important game for the divisional standings.
The Tennessee Titans get an easier opponent in Week 7, as they head on the road to play the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 22. It could be huge to move to 4-3 on the season, as rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson is playing extremely well for the Houston Texans. The Titans will then get a bye week before returning to action on Nov. 5 against the Baltimore Ravens.