Sunday was a big day for all three AFC South teams that played, with the Tennessee Titans squeezing out their first win of the season with a 22-21 win over the Arizona Cardinals, the Houston Texans beating up on the Baltimore Ravens 44-10 and, of course, the Colts taking down the Las Vegas Raiders 40-6.
The Jacksonville Jaguars play the Kansas City Chiefs at EverBank Stadium on Monday Night Football; the Jaguars are currently 3-1 and 2-0 at home.
Titans take advantage of Cardinals' collapse for first win of 2025
Entering the fourth quarter, the Titans trailed 21-6. For the first three quarters, they struggled to string together any sort of momentum; they scored two field goals in the first half but punted on their three third-quarter possessions.
The Cardinals, on the other hand, started off with a bang, scoring back-to-back touchdowns in the first quarter and adding a third in the second quarter. But then, the bottom fell out for quarterback Kyler Murray and his offense. In the third quarter, miscommunication between Murray and his center led to a snap bouncing off Murray's face mask, causing a fumble that was recovered by Titans defensive end Dre'Mont Jones. The Titans couldn't capitalize on that play, going three-and-out on the following possession, but it was a sign of what was to come in the fourth quarter.
The real turning point was a 72-yard run by Cardinals running back Emari Demercado; the run should have resulted in a touchdown, but Demercado dropped the ball before crossing into the end zone to turn the touchdown into a touchback. Two minutes later, the Titans scored their first touchdown of the game to make it 21-12.
After forcing the Cardinals to go three-and-out, the Titans quickly got the ball back and charged back down into the red zone. And how they scored their next touchdown is too hard to describe, so here's the video:
Another big defensive stop handed the ball back to Cam Ward with just under two minutes remaining, and kicker Joey Slye – who has struggled to consistently connect this season – came in clutch for a walkoff 29-yard field goal.
"Obviously, just really exciting to get a win," head coach Brian Callahan said postgame. "To show that kind of fight in a game where we had to claw our way back into it. It was everything that we needed to see from our football team, and we'd been waiting to see for a couple of weeks now, the ability to make the plays when it mattered to help us win the game.
"Those guys fought like crazy. It was superb effort all the way around. It was awesome to see just the resilience of the team, the fight that they showed. … I'm really proud of the team."
Ward finished 21-of-39 for 265 yards and one interception, and wide receiver Calvin Ridley led all receivers with five receptions for 131 yards. Murray was 23-of-31 for 220 yards and was sacked three times; Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. Had four receptions for 98 yards.
The Titans became the first team to overcome a deficit of at least 18 points and win with a rookie quarterback since the New York Giants and Daniel Jones in 2019. The win was also the franchise's largest fourth-quarter comeback in a win since a 21-point comeback against the Giants in 2006.
"It was wild," defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons, who generated six quarterback pressures, 1.5 sacks and caused havoc on almost every play, said. "We talk about resilience, and about being a team that can finish. It felt good to finally win a football game."
The Cardinals – who travel to Lucas Oil Stadium to face the Colts in Week 6 – became the first teams since 1970 to lose on a walk-off field goal in three consecutive games. The Titans will next play the Las Vegas Raiders.
C.J. Stroud leads Texans to franchise's first win in Baltimore
The Texans immediately set the tone against a very banged-up Ravens team with a 10-play, 67-yard touchdown drive on the opening possession of Sunday's game. Quarterback C.J. Stroud led eight straight scoring drives as the Texans punted just once midway through the fourth quarter; Stroud was 23-of-27 for 244 yards and four touchdowns on the day and finished with a passer rating of 143.9.
"He was very calm," head coach DeMeco Ryans said of Stroud. "He was very under control the entire game. He didn't get flustered. They got back there on a couple of plays. He didn't allow that to fluster him. He continued to press forward, continued to make plays, made great decisions with the football."
And on the other side of the ball, the defense did their job stopping Derrick Henry and the Ravens offense, quarterbacked by Cooper Rush with Lamar Jackson sidelined with a hamstring injury. Henry was limited to just 33 yards on 15 carries; the Ravens only rushed for 44 total yards. Rush finished 14-of-20 for 179 yards and three interceptions.
"We knew we had to stop the run," Ryans said. "We know Derrick Henry would get more touches. He would try to get more opportunities, and our guys did a really nice job starting up front with our defensive line, our tackles played really well, our ends at the edge, and we tackled really well."
"You want to take a step forward every game," Stroud said. "I thought today, we did that in a lot of ways. We still have to clean some things up, but I'm happy with the win...it's amazing to be on this team in this locker room. All the things we need to get better [at], we'll get better. It's good to enjoy it."
The Texans have a bye week before playing the Seattle Seahawks in Week 7.
