The Tennessee Titans finally got their first win on Sunday. They beat the Arizona Cardinals in a wild (for Tennessee) and embarrassing (for Arizona) fashion. The win stopped a 10-game losing streak that dates back to last season.
While it’s extremely frustrating for rookies like quarterback Cam Ward to wait five games for his first NFL win, it’s also tough on the veterans.
“It’s a relief,” said stud defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons.
“We talk about just learning, finding a way to finish games, (and) finding a way to make a play. I think that’s what we talk about. We’ve been talking about it… just fight to the end and we showed that today. Shoutout to even the special teams plays. Things like that change games. To be able to get a turnover and take care of the ball in ‘two minutes’ (two-minute situations). We worked the hell out of ‘two minutes’ (on) Thursday.”
Jeffery Simmons says the Titans were good in many phases
While Simmons stopped short of saying ‘we played great,’ he did mention that this was a team effort and guys contributed in a variety of ways.
“We worked two minutes in the game. We talk about being good in situational football and I think that showed today. In ‘two minutes’ (QB) Cam (Ward) went down, had a hell of a drive, (found) ‘Rid’ (WR Calvin Ridley) on the sideline, and set it up for (K) Joey (Slye). It feels good as hell to finally get a win.”
The good news for the Titans is that they have a real opportunity to keep the momentum going with the Las Vegas Raiders up next. Yes, it’s on the road, but the Raiders just got the doors blown off by the Indianapolis Colts and the Titans‘ only win was on the road too.
Jeffery Simmons says win gives Titans confidence
Simmons logged one and a half sacks on Sunday, giving him 3.5 through five games on the season. That is a lot for a defensive tackle and some people are already talking about him as a potential Defensive Player of the Year candidate. If the Titans are going to achieve anything this season, Simmons has to be a big part of it.
“Winning solves everything,” he said.
“When you win a football game in the National Football League, that builds confidence. I think us winning today shows guys that we can win in this league even when we were down 21-6 going into the fourth quarter. Nobody stopped believing. We kept believing in each other and (knew) everyone was going to do their job when it really mattered. … It feels good as hell to finally get a win.”
Head coach Brian Callahan is obviously excited by the win too, since it means he’ll be employed for at least another week. Heck, a win over the Raiders next week and he could have a quiet Thanksgiving…maybe.
“Obviously, just really exciting to get a win,” Callahan said after the game. “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.”
Titans’ Jeffery Simmons Gets Honest about First Win