NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans keep proving that for every step forward, they always find ways to take two back.
The Titans (3-9) clinched a third straight losing record to mark first-year coach Brian Callahan's debut season in an ugly 42-19 loss to Washington.
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Tennessee Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley (0), right, makes a catch past Washington Commanders cornerback Mike Sainristil (0), left, during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis (8) walks to the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Tennessee Titans wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (15) celebrates his touchdown with teammates tChig Okonkwo (85) and Daniel Brunskill (60) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Tennessee Titans wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (15) celebrates his touchdown with offensive tackle Dillon Radunz (75) during the second half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)
Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan yells to an official during the first half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis (8) leaves the field after the team's 42-19 loss against the Washington Commanders in an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Yet another slow start, more turnovers, sacks, penalties ruined their chance at stringing together consecutive wins for the first time in more than two years.
Callahan said Monday they're trying to build consistency.
“In the NFL, a lot of it is about not losing the game first, and we do right now with the amount of penalties and turnovers we’ve had,” Callahan said. "We put ourselves in position to lose games and not win them. And so, yes, there is a there is an element of learning how to win.”
Tennessee had 11 of 12 penalties before halftime, trailing 28-7. The Titans also were the previous NFL team to be flagged for at least 11 penalties and trail by 20 or more points at halftime in Week 17 of 2005 against the Jaguars.
Only Baltimore has been penalized more than Tennessee this season.
Two-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons said after the loss that the Titans need to learn how to deal with winning better coming off a 32-27 win at Houston. Simmons said they were "hungover from our own success."
Callahan said Monday he didn't see any hangover issues.
“You have a performance like that and you're sort of grasping for an explanation on why and there really wasn't one other than we made too many errors early in the game and put ourselves in a hole,” Callahan said.
Quarterback Will Levis' development over the four games since his return from a sprained, right throwing shoulder at least gives the Titans promise for the future.
The second-year quarterback made some nice throws and limited yards lost on two sacks Sunday. He threw two TD passes for 212 yards. Since his return, he is completing 61.7% of his passes for 960 yards with seven touchdown passes and only two interceptions with a 101.3 passer rating in that span.
Now the defense is struggling after going into Washington second in the NFL in yards allowed, ninth against the run and first defending the pass. They gave up a season-high 267 yards rushing after giving up just 40 a week ago.
The Titans also gave up 28 points within the first 20 minutes, becoming only the third team to do that in the past five seasons. The Titans also did that in Week 8 earlier this season after being routed by the Lions in Detroit. Washington did it against Dallas in Week 16 of 2021.
WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. Originally undrafted out of Indiana, Westbrook-Ikhine is tied for fourth in the NFL with eight TD catches entering Monday. That's despite starting only five games this season and not having a pass thrown to him the first month of the season.
He has earned a multi-year deal with his performance. He had three receptions for 61 yards against Washington and was targeted a season-high eight times.
Rookie Jha'Quan Jackson. A sixth-round pick out of Tulane and nephew of Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive back Ed Reed has fumbled five times as the punt returner recovering only two of those. That got him benched against Washington.
His fumbles have come in the past six games, including one in each of the past two. His fumble against Washington led to an early touchdown.
LT JC Latham hurt a quadriceps muscle but finished the game. Callahan said they will see how CB Roger McCreary (shoulder) and LB Kenneth Murray Jr. (strained hamstring) recover during the week.
36 — The number of games since the Titans have had consecutive victories.
The Titans at least are home with their best focus trying to improve their standing inside the AFC South with four divisional games down the stretch. They have two games remaining against Jacksonville (2-10) starting Sunday with Trevor Lawrence likely out.
But their biggest question now is how high does this franchise draft in April.
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Tennessee Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley (0), right, makes a catch past Washington Commanders cornerback Mike Sainristil (0), left, during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis (8) walks to the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Tennessee Titans wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (15) celebrates his touchdown with teammates tChig Okonkwo (85) and Daniel Brunskill (60) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Tennessee Titans wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (15) celebrates his touchdown with offensive tackle Dillon Radunz (75) during the second half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)
Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan yells to an official during the first half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis (8) leaves the field after the team's 42-19 loss against the Washington Commanders in an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Israel’s defense minister warned that if the shaky ceasefire with Hezbollah collapses, Israel will widen its strikes and target the Lebanese state itself.
He spoke the day after Israel carried out a wave of airstrikes that killed nearly a dozen people. Those strikes came after the Lebanese militant group fired a volley of projectiles as a warning over what it said were previous Israeli violations.
Speaking to troops on the northern border Tuesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said any violations of the agreement would be met with “a maximum response and zero tolerance.”
He said if the war resumes, Israel will widen its strikes beyond the areas where Hezbollah’s activities are concentrated, and “there will no longer be an exemption for the state of Lebanon.”
Hezbollah began launching rockets, drones and missiles into Israel last year in solidarity with Hamas militants who are fighting in the Gaza Strip. The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage.
Israel’s blistering retaliatory offensive has killed at least 44,502 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The war in Gaza has destroyed vast areas of the coastal enclave and displaced 90% of the population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.
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BEIRUT - The Lebanese army is looking for more recruits as it beefs up its presence in southern Lebanon after the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire.
Lebanon’s army is a respected national institution that kept to the sidelines during the nearly 14-month conflict.
During an initial 60-day truce, thousands of Lebanese troops are supposed to deploy in southern Lebanon, where U.N. peacekeepers also have a presence. Hezbollah militants are to pull back from areas near the border as Israel withdraws its ground forces.
The army said those interested in joining up have a one-month period to apply, starting Tuesday.
The Lebanese army has about 80,000 troops, with around 5,000 of them deployed in the south.
DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria’s state news agency says a drone strike hit a car in a suburb of the capital, Damascus, killing one person.
The agency did not give further details or say who was killed.
It said the attack occurred Tuesday on the road leading to the Damascus International Airport south of the city.
The area is known to be home to members of Iran-backed militant groups. Israel is believed to have carried out a number of strikes in the area in recent months as it has battled Iran-backed Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon. Israeli officials rarely acknowledge such strikes.
JERUSALEM — Israel’s defense minister warned that if the shaky ceasefire with Hezbollah collapses, Israel will widen its strikes and target the Lebanese state itself.
He spoke the day after Israel carried out a wave of airstrikes that killed nearly a dozen people. Those strikes came after the Lebanese militant group fired a volley of projectiles as a warning over what it said were previous Israeli violations.
Speaking to troops on the northern border Tuesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said any violations of the agreement would be met with “a maximum response and zero tolerance.”
He said if the war resumes, Israel will widen its strikes beyond the areas where Hezbollah’s activities are concentrated, and “there will no longer be an exemption for the state of Lebanon.”
During the 14-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which came to an end last week with a ceasefire brokered by the United States and France, Israel largely refrained from striking critical infrastructure or the Lebanese armed forces, who kept to the sidelines.
When Israeli strikes killed or wounded Lebanese soldiers, the Israeli military said it was accidental.
The ceasefire agreement that took effect last week gives 60 days for Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon and for Hezbollah militants to relocate north of the Litani River. The buffer zone is to be patrolled by Lebanese armed forces and U.N. peacekeepers.
Israel has carried out multiple strikes in recent days in response to what it says are violations by Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, accused Israel of violating the truce more than 50 times in recent days by launching airstrikes, demolishing homes near the border and violating Lebanon’s airspace. Berri, a Hezbollah ally, had helped mediate the ceasefire.
JERUSALEM — Palestinian officials say an Israeli airstrike in the northern West Bank has killed two Palestinians.
Israel’s military said it struck a militant cell near the town of Al-Aqaba, in the Jordan Valley. It did not immediately give more details.
The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed the two deaths and said a third person was moderately wounded.
About 800 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza ignited the war there. Israel has carried out near-daily military raids in the West Bank that it says are aimed at preventing attacks on Israelis, which have also been on the rise.
Israel captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories for an independent state.
BEIRUT — Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon made his first public appearance in Beirut since he was wounded in an attack involving exploding pagers in mid-September.
Mojtaba Amani, who returned to Lebanon over the weekend after undergoing treatment in Iran, visited on Tuesday the scene south of Beirut where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Sept. 27.
Speaking about the airstrike that destroyed six buildings and killed Nasrallah and others, Amani said Israel should get for its act “the highest medal for sabotage, terrorism, blood and killing civilians.”
Amani suffered serious injuries in his face and hands when a pager he was holding exploded in mid-September. The device was one of about 3,000 pagers that exploded simultaneously, killing and wounding many Hezbollah members.
A day after the pager attack, a similar attack struck walkie-talkies. In total, the explosions killed at least 37 people and wounded more than 3,000, many of them civilians.
Last month, a spokesperson for the office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the pager attack was approved by Netanyahu.
Palestinian walk past destroyed building at a neighbourhood in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Rafi Shitrit speaks with soldiers patrolling the area as he cleans in front of his house during a visit for the day in the agricultural settlement of Avivim, next to the Lebanese border in upper Galilee, Israel, Monday Dec. 2, 2024. Israelis are still wary of returning to the north despite the ceasefire with Hezbollah.(AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A house is blocked with protective sandbags in the community of Kibbutz Manara, located along the border with Lebanon, in northern Israel, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A damaged room of a house in the Kibbutz Manara, which is located near to the border with Lebanon, in northern Israel, Monday Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
People gather at the site where former Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was killed by Israeli airstrikes late September during a memorial ceremony in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
People gather at the site where former Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was killed by Israeli airstrikes late September during a memorial ceremony in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A woman lights candles at the site where former Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was killed by Israeli airstrikes late September during a memorial ceremony in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Barbed wires set in an area in front of a house of the Kibbutz Manara, which is located near to the border with Lebanon, in northern Israel, Monday Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
