NASHVILLE - A disastrous start for the Tennessee Titans in 2024 continued on Sunday as the Titans dropped a must-win game to the division rival Indianapolis Colts by a score of 20-17.
While running back Tony Pollard (93 rushing yards, 1 TD) carried the offense for a majority of the day, Tennessee had just 29 yards of offense on 14 plays in the fourth quarter.
The most frustrating and concerning part of this Titans loss is the lack of production they continue to get from big money free agent signings. Cornerback L'Jarius Sneed and wide receiver Calvin Ridley both struggled mightily with ample opportunity to contribute. It led to a devastating loss worthy of boos from the home crowd.
Ridley gets shut out
Titans head coach Brian Callahan said it himself entering this week. The Titans needed to find a way to get Calvin Ridley more involved on offense.
Ridley was given a four-year, $92 million contract in the offseason and had just nine catches through the first four games of the season. But despite emphasizing targets for Ridley, the 29-year-old wide receiver did not have a single catch in Sunday's loss to the Colts. Five of Ridley's eight targets came in the fourth quarter of the game and a few of his targets were nowhere near catchable.
Ridley was clearly frustrated by his lack of involvement during the first half. "I need some [targets] in the beginning of the f---ing game too then. S--t is getting f---ing crazy for me," Ridley told me in the locker room postgame.
I think most people understand where Ridley is coming from . Tennessee's conservative game plan against Indianapolis was puzzling. As was seeing Ridley and DeAndre Hopkins on the sidelines for many snaps in the first half. Wouldn't you want your best and highest-paid players on the field as much as possible?
"No, we can't. We can't win like that. I'm sure he'll be the first one to tell you that that was disappointing," said head coach Brian Callahan when asked if the Titans can win without contributions from Ridleys in the passing game. "There's multiple things that you can point to that explain one route versus another route. There's all kinds of ways to explain it away, but I'm not really into doing that at this point. We've got to find ways to make more plays. Got to find ways to get the ball to him and he's got to find ways to make the plays. I think ultimately what we've lacked so far, really in all three phases, is one has been time to make a critical play or make the game-winning play, we haven't done that for whatever reason with spots. So got to keep working, got to find a way to get better. But I'm glad we have Calvin (Ridley). We just got to find a way to make that connection work. There's really no other way about it. And obviously the stats tell you what they tell you, but need more, need better."
$92 million for Calvin Ridley to make plays for your young quarterback. Does Ridley need to be better and not drop passes late in the game? Absolutely. But it shouldn't be this hard for the Titans coaching staff to get the ball in his hands. Good things happen when Ridley gets the football. We've seen that his entire career.
When you make a large investment in a player in free agency, especially one with guaranteed money, getting contributions from them is paramount to long-term success for the organization. There's no excuse not to have him on the field or involve him in the game plan...if you were just going to run the ball and play things safe, why spend a fortune to get Ridley on your roster?
Sneed 's play is worse than it looks
Unfortunately for Tennessee, Ridley isn't the only big-name acquisition that is off to a rough start...and the play of cornerback L'Jarius Sneed may be a bigger problem than something your game plan can fix.
While Sneed has only surrendered nine catches for 107 yards and one touchdown on the season, he has been fortunate that opponents have failed to connect when his coverage has been lacking.
Through six weeks of the NFL season, no starting cornerback has a worse PFF coverage grade than L'Jarius Sneed. Tennessee gave a 2025 third-round pick and a 2024 seventh-round pick swap to the Kansas City Chiefs for Sneed this offseason. The Titans then proceeded to sign Sneed to a four-year, $76.4 million contract extension.
Against the Colts on Sunday, Sneed got beat for two would-be explosive touchdown passes, but Joe Flacco overshot his receiver. On another occasion in the same game, Sneed getting beat deep by Alec Pierce resulted in a long pass interference against Sneed as he was trying to recover.
The guy just hasn't been good. And unlike Ridley, who is a hostage in the Titans offense and relies on Will Levis to actually deliver a good throw , Sneed is in total control of his performance in man coverage.
He's being paid like a Top 10 cornerback in the league...and he sure isn't playing like one right now. As a matter of fact, he has been more of a liability.
Recovering the 2024 season may be an impossible task at this point. But if the Titans want any chance of recovering their immediate future, Ridley and Sneed have to answer the bell and live up to their salary. Otherwise, this could end up being a really dark cloud over the Carthon era of Titans football.
Related: Tennessee Titans head coach defends WR Calvin Ridley after frustrated postgame comments
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