NASHVILLE — Five days before Christmas, the Titans lit up the scoreboard like a Christmas tree.
Again.
The Titans beat the Detroit Lions 46-25 on Sunday at Nissan Stadium.
The Titans became just the fifth team in NFL history to score 30-plus points with 420 offensive yards for the fifth consecutive week.
TEN WINS! #DETvsTEN pic.twitter.com/dhK0xEodd5
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) December 20, 2020
The Titans have now scored 30-plus points in nine of their 14 games this season, and scored 40-plus points on four occasions.
Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill completed 21-of-27 passes for three touchdowns, and he also ran for a pair of touchdowns. It was the first five-touchdown game of his career.
Titans running back Derrick Henry carried the ball 24 times for 147 yards and a touchdown.
Titans receiver Corey Davis had four catches for 110 yards and a touchdown.
The Titans improved to 10-3 and remained on top of the AFC South with two games to play. The Titans have now won 10 games for the first time since the 2008 season.
The were some fireworks early in this one.
The Titans scored on their opening possession, as Henry ran for a three-yard touchdown to cap off a 12-play, 75-yard drive.
After the Lions answered back on a two-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Matthew Stafford to receiver Marvin Jones, the Titans were back on the scoreboard in a hurry.
Best plays from @ryantannehill1's 5 TD game #DETvsTEN
📺: More coverage on @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/yqExvIgrJm
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) December 20, 2020
A 75-yard touchdown pass from Tannehill to Davis gave the Titans a 14-7 lead just 12 seconds later, and that was the lead at the end of the first quarter.
But the action was just getting started.
Henry unleased his patented stiff-arm to get the crowd fired up on the team’s next drive, and Tannehill finished off an eight-play, 93-yard drive with an impressive dive to the pylon on a 17-yard touchdown run to give the Titans a 21-7 lead with 9:28 left in the second quarter.
The Titans got a big defensive stop late in the second quarter, when defensive lineman DaQuan Jones forced a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Will Compton at the three-yard line on a play that originated from the Tennessee one-yard line.
But the excitement was short-lived, as Tannehill was sacked for a safety, which cut the lead to 21-9 with 3:31 left before halftime. Minutes later, running back D’Andre Swift scored on a two-yard touchdown run to cut Tennessee’s lead to 21-15 with 1:02 left before halftime.
The Titans picked up points at the end of the first half as kicker Stephen Gostkowski made a 38-yard field goal at the horn to make it 24-15 at halftime.
Late in the third quarter, Lions kicker Matt Prater made a 53-yard field goal to make it 24-18 Titans.
Then the Titans put together a big, nine-play, 83-yard drive that was capped off by a three-yard touchdown run by Tannehill. A two-point conversion run by Henry, who had 50 yards rushing on the drive, made it 32-18 Titans with 14:30 left in the contest.
The Titans extended their lead to 39-18 on a two-yard touchdown pass from Tannehill to receiver A.J. Brown, which came after the Titans got a stop on a fake punt by the Lions as Nick Westbrook-Ikhine made a nice stop.
The Lions scored again with 6:23 left on another run by Swift, which made it 39-25, before the Titans capped off the scoring with a three-yard touchdown pass from Tannehill to running back Darrynton Evans with 2:07 left.
The Titans return to action next Sunday against the Packers in Green Bay.
