Week 3 Game Recap: Tennessee Titans 10, Miami Dolphins 13

What you need to know

Tennessee Titans

The beleaguered Titans’ passing offense had better performance this week as they gave the Dolphins a big scare at home in a 13-10 loss.

QB Kerry Collins started out slow in the first half, and had an early interception that set up one of Miami’s two field goals in the game. He managed the first half well for Tennessee after the early interception, and had a nice touchdown pass to TE Bo Scaife early in the second quarter. The second half was a different story as Collins and the offense were shut down by the Miami defense, and they only had 81 yards passing and no touchdowns. Collins finished with respectable numbers in the game, but he missed his receivers on key plays. He could have had a better game had he been a little more accurate with his passes and not missed so many receivers. Collins had a chance to win or tie the game in the last two minutes of the game, but threw his second interception to end any hope the Titans had.

Tennessee tried to establish the running game early on by giving the ball to RB Travis Henry. This was somewhat effective as Henry had 14 carries for 53 yards in the first half. The Dolphins clamped down on the running game in the second half as the Titans only had nine yards rushing in the second half. Henry did have all but one of the rushing carries in the game as RB Chris Brown was inactive for the game.

WR Drew Bennett was QB Kerry Collins’ favorite target for the game and he could have had a really big game had Collins been a little more accurate with his passes. He was targeted the most of any Titans’ receiver and had a good start as he had three receptions for 57 yards in the first half. Bennett clearly appeared to be the number one option in the Titans’ passing attack.

Miami Dolphins

In what was a billed as a must win for Miami; QB Daunte Culpepper had another disappointing game statistically as he finished with only 168 yards and no passing touchdowns against one of the lowest ranked defenses in the league. Culpepper did have a five yard rushing touchdown, but it was an unimpressive performance overall against one of the weaker pass defenses.

Culpepper and the Dolphins’ offense struggled on third and long situations, and finished six for 16 on third down conversions. The Titans blitzed often on obvious passing situations and Culpepper had trouble dealing with the Tennessee pressure. He clearly doesn’t have the ability to elude pass rushers like he once did and he couldn’t make plays when he was pressured. The Miami offense line was inconsistent in pass protection as they gave up five sacks. Culpepper didn’t have any trouble hitting receivers on short passes, but struggled with deep to mid-range passes in the game. He just didn’t seem comfortable in the pocket and was having trouble finding open receivers when he did have time.

RB Ronnie Brown ran the ball hard in this game and had to fight for each yard against a surprisingly stingy Titans’ run defense. The Dolphins had trouble running the ball early in the game as Brown only had 26 yards on 11 carries in the first half. Miami moved the ball a little more effectively on the ground in the second half. Brown had a big 27 yard run in the fourth quarter that set up the game winning field goal. He did have one goal line carry, but he was stopped for no gain on the play. Miami was only in the red zone twice during game and the there were very few scoring opportunities for Brown.

WR Chris Chambers had a quiet game receiving with four receptions for 39 yards. He came up inches short from scoring a touchdown on the first drive of the second half. Initially, it looked like Chambers scored, but the referee ruled he was down just short of the goal line. He also had big rushing play for 39 yards that helped set up the Dolphins' only touchdown.

What you ought to know

QB Kerry Collins, Pass: 19 - 33 - 269 - 1 TD / 2 INT

Collins struggled early in the first quarter, but then got it going in the second quarter as he finished the half 13 for 20 for 188 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. The Titans’ offense did little in the second half as they only managed 90 yards of offense in the second half. Without any help from the running game, Collins was unable to put together any long drives in the second half. Even though Collins put up decent numbers, he was inconsistent with his accuracy and missed receivers on key plays. Collins inaccuracy resulted in his second interception while the Titans were driving with two minutes left in the game. He threw a pass behind Drew Bennett, which deflected off his hand and into the hands of a Miami defender, ending any chance the Titans had of winning the game.

QB Vince Young

For the first time this season, Young did not see the field.

RB Travis Henry, Rush: 21 - 60 - 0, Rec: 2 - 10 - 0 (3 targets)

Henry started the game even though he was slowed by a toe injury, and he took all but one of the rushing carries in the game. The Titans seemed determined to get something going on the ground early on in the game. Henry had 53 yards on 14 carries by halftime. But the Dolphins completely shut down Henry and the Titans’ running game in the second half, only allowing nine yards in the second half. The Titans were only inside the Miami ten yard line once, and Henry never really got a good scoring opportunity on that possession. He also added two catches for ten yards.

RB LenDale White, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0, Rec: 1 - 2 - 0 (1 targets)

White didn’t see his any action until the third quarter as Henry got all the carries in the first half. He had one carry for two yards and one reception for two yards as well. He was pretty much a non-factor in this game.

RB Chris Brown

Brown was inactive for the game because of a toe injury.

WR Drew Bennett, Rec: 5 - 84 - 0 (9 targets)

The game started out promising for Bennett as he had a 36 yard reception in the first quarter, and by the second quarter the Titans’ offense was starting to move the ball on the Dolphins. By halftime, he had 57 yards receiving. The Miami defense played a lot tougher in the second half. On a third quarter play, Bennett beat the defender on a corner route and was wide open along the sideline, but Collins missed him on what would have been a big play. Collins missed him a couple times when he was open and Bennett’s numbers could have been better had they connected on a few more plays.

WR David Givens, Rec: 2 - 47 - 0 (3 targets)

He had two catches in the game, a 20 yard reception on a third down play in the third quarter and then a big 27 yard reception on the Titans last drive of the game. Givens seemed to hurt his ankle in the third quarter and left the game, but returned later on.

WR Bobby Wade, Rec: 2 - 17 - 0 (2 targets)

Wade had two receptions for 17 yards.

WR Roydell Williams, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (4 targets)

Williams had only one reception for nine yards, but did have four targets in the game.

TE Bo Scaife, Rec: 3 - 53 - 1 (3 targets)

Scaife, normally the third-string tight end, saw a lot of action in the passing game. He had two catches for 48 yards in the first half including a beautiful one handed reception for a 27 yard touchdown. He did have a costly fumble after a 21 yard catch deep in Dolphins’ territory in the second quarter, when it looked like the Titans were going to score.

TE Ben Troupe, Rec: 2 - 41 - 0 (6 targets)

Troupe's biggest play came on a 32 yard catch on a third and one play in the second quarter. He finished with two catches for 41 yards in the first half, and caught no balls in the second half.

PK Rob Bironas 1 - 2 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 4 points

Bironas missed a 51 yard kick at the end of the first half, but did he make a 22 yard field goal in the third quarter.

TEN Rush Defense

The Titans did a very good job of holding Ronnie Brown to only 26 yards in the first half. They did wear down a little in the second half and gave up some big plays on the ground. The Dolphins’ only touchdown came on Culpepper run for five yards. Miami was able to put together a 50 yard drive in the fourth quarter that led to the game winning field goal, and all of those yards came on the ground.

TEN Pass Defense

The pass defense did its’ job in this game and held Daunte Culpepper to only 168 yards passing, while sacking him five times. The defense played well enough for Tennessee to win the game, but couldn’t come up with any big plays. The Titans’ only turnover came on a recovered fumble on a punt return.

QB Daunte Culpepper, Pass: 17 - 26 - 168 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 7 - 5 - 1

Culpepper was on the hot seat going into this game after a poor performance last week against the Buffalo Bills in the home opener. He did not look sharp and the offense had trouble moving the ball the entire game. He finished the first half eight for 14 in the first half for 86 yards. Culpepper and the Dolphins came out firing on the first drive of the second half as they went to the no huddle on an 11 play, 80 yard drive that culminated in a Culpepper five yard run touchdown. But that would be as good as it got for Culpepper as he finished with 168 passing yards and no passing touchdowns. He didn’t have any turnovers in the game.

Pass protection was a problem again for the Dolphins as Culpepper was sacked five times in the game. He and the offensive line didn’t seem to be on the same page at times with the pass protection packages. It’s also evident that he has not fully recovered from the knee surgery from last year. The Titans blitzed often, especially on passing situations, and Culpepper was not able to elude the pass rush like he used too. When he did have a lot of time to pass he seemed to have trouble finding open receivers.

RB Ronnie Brown, Rush: 26 - 90 - 0, Rec: 2 - 10 - 0 (2 targets)

The yards did not come easy in the first half as Brown only had 26 yards on 11 carries. Miami did not give up on the run and kept pounding the ball in the second half. Brown had an opportunity to score early in the second half when Miami had the ball on the one yard line, but he was stopped. Brown didn’t have any other real good scoring opportunities after that as the Dolphins’ offense stalled often. He did have a big run in the fourth quarter for 27 yards that helped set up the game winning field goal.

RB Lee Suggs, Rush: 2 - 7 - 0

Suggs only got two carries and that was in the second quarter to give Ronnie Brown a breather.

WR Chris Chambers, Rush: 1 - 39 - 0, Rec: 4 - 39 - 0 (6 targets)

Chambers didn’t have many opportunities in the first half, and he only had one catch for 16 yards. He did have one chance for a big play in the second quarter, but he wasn’t able to come down with a very catchable deep ball. He had a big 39 yard rushing play on an end-around in the opening drive of the second half. He also had a six yard catch during that drive that appeared at first to be touchdown, but the referees ruled him down before the goal line.

WR Wes Welker, Rec: 5 - 59 - 0 (6 targets)

Welker was the Dolphins’ leading receiver as he caught almost everything thrown his way and finished with 59 yards receiving. His biggest reception was a 19 yard catch to wrap up the game in the fourth quarter as Miami was trying to run the clock out. He also had fumble on a punt return.

WR Marty Booker, Rush: 1 - 18 - 0, Rec: 2 - 36 - 0 (4 targets)

Booker had two receptions for 36 yards in the first half including a 25 yard catch in the second quarter. Culpepper did take a shot deep for Booker in the second quarter but it was incomplete. Booker also had an end around run for 18 yards in the fourth quarter.

TE Randy McMichael, Rec: 2 - 15 - 0 (5 targets)

McMichael had two receptions for 15 yards, and was targeted five times in the game.

PK Olindo Mare 2 - 3 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 7 points

Mare missed an easy 30 yard field goal in the second quarter. He did make field goals of 40 yards in the first quarter and 39 yards in the fourth quarter.

MIA Rush Defense

The defense forced a big fumble in the second quarter when it looked like the Titans were driving for a score. They shut down the Titans’ rushing game in the second half, allowing them nine yards rushing.

MIA Pass Defense

LB Zach Thomas had an interception in the first quarter that led to a Miami field goal. DB Travis Daniel had a big interception at the end of the fourth quarter that helped seal the victory for Miami. They finished with two sacks in the game.