By admin 
The boos at Nissan Stadium started in the third quarter and came back at the final horn. By then Cam Ward had been sacked four times, the Tennessee Titans had 187 yards of offense, and a 26-3 loss to the previously winless Houston Texans was in the books. We wrote Thursday that the trenches had to deliver for Tennessee to get its first win, and they were the biggest reason it never had a chance.
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At 0-5, this is the franchise’s worst start since 2009, according to The Tennessean. Robert Saleh’s first team has scored 58 points in five games. Four takeaways from a long afternoon on the east bank of the Cumberland:
Cam Ward is getting hit like it’s 2025 again
Ward was sacked 55 times as a rookie, and Saleh said on Sept. 30, “I’m sure there’s some PTSD there.” Tennessee had kept that mostly in check, allowing six sacks in the first four games. Houston got four on Sunday for 40 yards, plus seven quarterback hits.
Will Anderson Jr. had three of the sacks, two on fourth down in the fourth quarter. Tackles Dan Moore Jr. and JC Latham carried pass-blocking grades of 63.3 and 71.5 through four games, according to PFF, so this was a step back for a line that had been respectable.
Four holding calls erased the one real scoring chance
Tennessee didn’t commit a penalty until late in the third quarter, according to The Associated Press. Then it drew four holding flags on a single 11-play drive in the fourth. One of them wiped out a 35-yard Tyjae Spears catch that would have put the ball at the Houston 8. The drive ended with Anderson sacking Ward on fourth-and-20.
The passing game has no downfield element
Ward completed 23 of 36 passes for 170 yards, which works out to 4.7 yards per attempt. Spears caught all nine of his targets and gained 28 yards. Carnell Tate was targeted five times and caught one pass for 6 yards. The only play longer than 17 yards was a 23-yard throw to Calvin Ridley, and the 187 total yards were a season low.
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Houston outgained Tennessee 225-49 across the second and third quarters, per the AP. The opening drive, nine plays to the Houston 12 and a 30-yard Joey Slye field goal, was the only trip inside the 20 all day. Tony Pollard, the offense’s highest-graded player through four games at 71.4 according to PFF, got 14 carries and averaged 3.7 yards.
The defense kept it close for a half, then wore down
Tennessee turned the ball over twice in the first half, on a Spears fumble and a Ward interception returned into Titans territory, and the defense held Houston to a field goal both times. The Texans’ first four scoring drives all ended in kicks, two of them after red-zone trips, and Tony Adams, starting for Amani Hooker, made a third-and-2 stop inside the 20 on one of them.
The Texans then opened the third quarter with a 17-play touchdown drive that lasted 8:23, and C.J. Stroud’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Jaylin Noel early in the fourth made it 26-3. The Titans finished without a takeaway and have forced two in five games, per The Tennessean.
Saleh said during the week that Houston was maybe “the best 0-4 team in NFL history,” per The Tennessean. His own team is the one still looking for a win, and Indianapolis is next on Oct. 18 with a noon CT kickoff.
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More on the Tennessee Titans
- Titans vs. Texans Week 5 Inactives: Who’s In, Who’s Out as Tony Adams Replaces Amani Hooker
- Titans Get Zero Outright Votes From National NFL Experts Against the Winless Texans
- Final Injury Report for Texans-Titans: Will Tank Dell, Carnell Tate Play?
- Houston Texans at Tennessee Titans NFL Prediction, Picks & Odds for Week 5
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This story was originally published October 11, 2026 at 2:19 PM.