DENVER — The debut for No. 1 pick Cam Ward had its share of rough moments as the Tennessee Titans lost 20-12 to the Denver Broncos. Ward’s frustration came to the surface when he spoke about scoring only six points off four turnovers created by the Titans’ defense.
“We were ass honestly,” Ward said after the game. “When you get a defense that gets three or four turnovers and don’t capitalize on it, that’s on us.”
The four turnovers resulted in two field goals by kicker Joey Slye. The first one came with 49 seconds left in the first quarter when Roger McCreary picked off a Bo Nix pass that was intended for Courtland Sutton. The Titans took over at the Broncos’ 32-yard, but Tony Pollard fumbled a few plays later.
Sebastian Joseph-Day recovered Jeffery Simmons‘ strip-sack on Nix in the second quarter at Denver’s 38-yard line, resulting in a 33-yard field goal by Slye. Tennessee got another interception when Xavier Woods picked Nix off on the Broncos’ first drive of the second half. Woods returned the interception 16 yards to Denver’s 26-yard line. Slye came through again, this time with a 35-yard field goal.
For the game, Ward completed 12 of 28 passes for 112 yards. A number of Ward’s passes were dropped by his receivers, including a crucial one by Calvin Ridley that would have resulted in a first down on their final offensive series.
Tennessee’s best scoring opportunity came when gunners Van Jefferson and Bryce Oliver were directly in front of Broncos’ returner Marvin Mims Jr. as he muffed a punt after calling for a fair catch. Linebacker Dorian Mausi recovered the fumble at the Broncos’ 24-yard line. Ward was sacked on second and third down for a combined loss of 27 yards and the Titans had to punt.
“I think there was a point in that game where they became one dimensional, somewhere in the fourth quarter, earlier in the fourth quarter than they would have liked. And that’s hard for any quarterback,” Denver coach Sean Payton said in reference to Ward. “But once they were one dimensional, our pass rush did a great job.”
Those two sacks gave Ward what he called the biggest lesson of the day. He accepted responsibility for them because he felt he needed to get the ball out quicker.
“Just got to be better situationally knowing when we are on the edge of field goal range, not taking a bad sack,” Ward said. “Just getting the ball out, and whether that’s dirt it or having to get out the pocket to throw it away.”
The Titans will get an opportunity to rebound next week when they host the Los Angeles Rams at Nissan Stadium for their home opener.
ESPN staff writer Jeff Legwold contributed to this report.
