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Tennessee Titans spoil Jaguars' playoff bid as vintage Mike Vrabel team returns to end season
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- Tennessee Titans spoil Jaguars' playoff bid as vintage Mike Vrabel team returns to end season
Derrick Henry had one last show in him, and less than a week after Mike Vrabel ranted about how badly it sucks to lose , the Tennessee Titans ended their season with a win.
Playing in his last game under contract with the Tennessee Titans , Henry gashed the Jacksonville Jaguars for 153 yards and a touchdown to lead the Titans to a 28-20 win, eliminating their rivals from the postseason, just as the Jaguars did to the Titans the year prior.
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Tennessee finishes the season 6-11 after snapping a three-game losing streak and winning its only AFC South game heading into what figures to be a busy offseason.
The Titans led by 15 points in the second half, owing to an early offensive explosion catalyzed by running backs Henry and Tyjae Spears , who combined for 219 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns.
But after a fourth-quarter touchdown and interception, the Jaguars drove down to the Titans' 1-yard line, down eight points with a chance to tie the score late. As it has all season, the Titans' No. 1-ranked red zone defense held its own, stopping the Jaguars on two consecutive plays, forcing them to turn the ball over on downs inside the 1 and preserving the lead.
After another Titans offensive stall following the stop, the Jaguars got the ball back at their own 25-yard line just before the two-minute warning. The Titans forced a four-and-out, turning the ball over on downs and securing a win as the fans at Nissan Stadium started chanting Henry's name.
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Give it up for Derrick Henry , Ryan Tannehill
In his last game before becoming a free agent in March for the first time since the Titans drafted him in 2016, Henry set the franchise record for 100-yard rushing games in a career, passed franchise icon Earl Campbell on the all-time rushing list and became the sixth player in NFL history to rush for 12 or more touchdowns in five seasons.
Henry wasn't the only Tennessee cornerstone player potentially taking the field in a Titans uniform for the last time. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill started in place of injured rookie Will Levis in his final game before his contract expires as well, winning his 39th game in 63 starts in five years. Tannehill finished 17-for-26 with 168 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
Running backs young and old produce
If Sunday was the last instance of Spears and Henry's collaboration in the Titans' backfield, it was also the best. Before Sunday, the two running backs hadn't scored touchdowns in the same game. Against the Jaguars, they found the end zone in the same quarter.
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Both took advantage of space, gashing the Jaguars off tackle and up the sidelines. Spears showed his knack for slipping underneath and past would-be tacklers in the open field, particularly when he skirted down the sideline for his 28-yard receiving touchdown. And Henry's famed blend of physicality, downhill decisiveness and open-field vision led to four carries where he gained 8 or more yards.
Turnovers finally come
The Titans went into this game with just four interceptions, three fewer than the next worst team in the NFL, and only one in their past seven games. Turnover luck spun back in the Titans' direction, though, with a pair of second-quarter interceptions gifted by the Jaguars.
First, a ball bounced off tight end Evan Engram 's hands, letting safety Terrell Edmunds dive and make a spectacular interception to set up an eventual Spears touchdown. One drive later, Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence sailed a pass straight into the arms of cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting , giving Murphy-Bunting his second interception of the year.
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Lawrence hadn't thrown an interception against the Titans since his rookie year.
What's next?
With the win, however, the Titans erased their chances of securing a top-five pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. In addition to Henry and Tannehill, some of the team's most prominent players will become free agents in March, a list that includes defensive lineman Denico Autry , linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair , Murphy-Bunting, cornerback Kristian Fulton and center Aaron Brewer .
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com . Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Titans spoil Jaguars' NFL playoff hopes, Derrick Henry stars
