Titans' losing streak hits 10 games after 26-0 shutout by Texans

“When is the last time Tennessee won? I don’t know,” he said. “I’m just trying to win. Everybody in this locker room, we want to win, and we have to win. That’s really what it comes down to, no matter how we gotta do it. At some point we have to turn the tide.”

It ties their longest losing streak since moving from Houston to Tennessee in 1997. Their previous 10-game skid came when they dropped the final 10 games of the 2014 season. It’s the longest string of losses since Amy Adams Strunk took over as controlling owner in 2015 and has to sting to see her team lose 26-0 in her hometown.

Their most recent win came in a 32-27 victory over the Texans in Houston on Nov. 24.

Second-year coach Brian Callahan falls to 3-18 and is certainly on the hot seat as the Titans continue to struggle. He was asked about his job security.

“I show up and do my job, and we do it as hard as we can,” he said. “That’s everyone on our staff. We work our tails off, and we try to do everything we can to put ourselves in a position to win, and we haven’t. That’s the reality of our jobs in the league, so no, I don’t think about that.”

Houston (1-3) led 6-0 after three quarters but scored three touchdowns in the fourth to put the game out of reach.

The Titans were down 12-0 when Derek Stingley picked off Ward and returned it 20 yards. The Texans cashed in on that mistake when C.J. Stroud threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to rookie Jayden Higgins to push the lead to 19-0 with about 9 ½ minutes to go.

An 18-yard touchdown run by Woody Marks made it 26-0 with less than five minutes remaining.

The Titans were shut out for the first time since a 16-0 loss at Denver on Oct. 13, 2019. The offense has failed to improve this season despite the addition of Ward, who was 10 of 26 for 108 yards with the interception.

Ward knows he has to be better for the Titans to get out of the losing column.

“At this point we have nothing to lose,” Ward said. “We dropped a quarter of our games, and we have yet to do anything, so we have to lock in, especially myself.”

The Titans had chances to get on the board in the first half, but Joey Slye missed a 41-yard field-goal attempt on Tennessee’s first possession and his 43-yard attempt at the end of the first half was wide right.

Despite the results, Callahan has been encouraged by his team’s effort.

“Not playing well and not fighting are two different things,” he said. “We didn’t play well enough, but I don’t think I’d question whether those guys wanted to play the game. They fought their tails off for the entirety of the game. You guys can make any conjecture that you want, but I don’t see any effort issues in terms of how they’re playing the game. We’re not playing well enough. That’s certainly part of it, but they went out and played hard today.”

Three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons, who along with Amani Hooker is the longest-tenured player on the roster, said the Titans are just playing bad football right now. He seemed dejected and at a loss for how to turn things around when asked about the skid.

“It’s frustrating,” he said. “It’s frustrating as hell, and I said it after the game in the locker room. When are we actually going to do the things we’re talking about? Tackling, penalties, stop getting penalties in critical situations, and ultimately winning football games. It’s draining. We haven’t played good football at the end of the day.”

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