Derrick Henry scored two rushing touchdowns and the Tennessee Titans clamped down on defense in the fourth quarter in a 17-10 victory against the visiting Carolina Panthers on Sunday in Nashville, Tenn.
The Titans (4-7), who played their previous three games on the road, snapped a three-game losing skid. The Panthers are now an NFL-worst 1-10.
The matchup of rookie quarterbacks was mostly even except for a costly fumble by the Panthers’ Bryce Young.
Titans quarterback Will Levis completed 18 of 28 passes for 185 yards. Young was 18 of 31 for 194 yards and he gained 23 rushing yards.
The Panthers threatened in the second half. Their 11-play, 67-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter ate up nearly seven minutes and allowed them to pull within 17-10 when Chuba Hubbard ran 5 yards to the end zone on fourth-and-2.
Both teams punted to end their next three possessions before the Titans took over at their own 16-yard line with 5:54 remaining.
Tennessee picked up two first downs and Carolina used three timeouts on defense before the Titans punted again.
The Panthers took over with 2:57 remaining at their own 20. On the first play after the 2-minute warning, Young threw an incomplete pass on fourth-and-6 to turn over the ball and effectively end the game.
Henry finished with 76 rushing yards on 18 carries, his most on the ground in the last four games.
With 10 minutes remaining, the teams had combined for only 436 yards of total offense.
Tennessee led 17-3 at halftime. Henry ran 1 yard for the first touchdown to cap a 91-yard drive that took 15 plays and consumed 9:36 of the first quarter.
After Eddy Pineiro’s 50-yard field goal for the Panthers cut the deficit to 7-3, the Titans scored twice late in the second quarter.
Henry ran for a 10-yard touchdown with 2:27 left before the half, just two plays after Young’s fumble when he was sacked by Arden Key. That gave the Titans the ball at the 15.
Tennessee’s Nick Folk made a 53-yard field goal on the final play of the half.
–Field Level Media
