Tennessee Titans

Turnovers a common theme in Titans' fourth-quarter struggles

Published Dec. 2, 2015 12:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

Coming off of another blown lead in Sunday's 24-21 loss to the Oakland Raiders, Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Mularkey said it's hard to pinpoint the reason his team has had difficulty closing out games.

The 2-9 Titans have lost four fourth-quarter leads this season. They appeared poised to beat the Raiders on Sunday before a controversial holding call away from the play on fourth day gave Oakland a new set of downs and enabled them to score the go-ahead touchdown.

“I think they’re all different,” Mularkey said of the blown leads, per the Tennessean. “There is no sense of ‘here we go, this is not good.’ There is an absolute belief we’re going to win on that sideline and for one reason or another, it’s come down to something in each game — a punt that you wish would have hung another three-tenths of a second (against the Jaguars), maybe we tackle them on the 50 instead of the 5. ...Something here or there has made a difference.”

One thing that has remained consistent is Tennessee's tendency to turn the ball over late. As Jason Wolf of the Tennessean notes, half of the Titans' 22 turnovers this season have come in the fourth quarter of games. In each of the four blown leads, a turnover has either led to the opposing team scoring points or sealed a Titans' defeat.

Tennessee will look to correct its late-game issues Sunday at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars.