Kicking woes the reason why Tennessee Titans fall out of first in AFC South

Stephen Gostkowski (Google Images)

If the Thursday night football game between the Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts taught us anything, it was that the Titans have serious kicking issues at the moment–both in punting and attempting field goals. The poor kicking game was the reason why the Colts defeated the Titans 34-17, and as a result, moved into a first place tie with the Titans in the AFC South at six wins and three losses. Even though the teams are tied, the Colts are technically in first at the moment, as they have the head-to-head win over the Titans.

First, Titans punter Trevor Daniel of Dickson, Tennessee was downright awful on Thursday. In back-to-back third quarter punt attempts, Daniel had a 17-yard punt followed by a blocked punt.

At the time of Daniel’s 17-yard punt, the Titans were leading the Colts 17-13, and had some momentum as they stopped the Colts on the Titans one-yard line on their previous drive. That momentum was quickly evaporated by Daniel’s shank. The Colts had a short field to work with, as running back Nyheim Hines had a 23-yard run prior to a two-yard touchdown run to put Indianapolis up by a field goal, 20-17.

Then on the next Titans drive, Indianapolis blocked a Daniel punt, and T.J. Carrie ran the football into the end zone for a major. The Colts went up 27-17, and never looked back. Daniel meanwhile was the third Titans punter in the last three weeks. He followed Ryan Allen, who punted for Tennessee against Chicago last week, and Brett Kern who punted for the Titans the week before that against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Field goal kicking is also a problem right now for the Titans as Stephen Gostkowski is having an off year. The former Patriots kicker might be showing his age at 36 years old. On Thursday, Gostkowski missed a 44-yard field goal. This was the eighth field goal he has missed this season, a career-high.

It should be noted that the Colts were leading the Titans 34-17 with just under seven minutes left and needed three scores (two touchdowns and one field goal). Tennessee had the football on Indianapolis’s 12-yard line on a fourth and three. Many coaches would normally kick a field goal in that situation, but it was clear that Titans head coach Mike Vrabel had lost some confidence in Gostkowski. Tennessee decided to gamble and a Ryan Tannehill pass attempt in the end zone went incomplete.

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