Titans keep things tight in AFC South with 42-20 win

[Jaxson De Ville]

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The Titans made sure the AFC South remains a three-team race on Sunday afternoon.

Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry each ran for two touchdowns and the Titans crushed the Jaguars 42-20 in Nashville. The win is the fourth in five games with Tannehill as the starting quarterback and it pushes the Titans record to 6-5 on the season.

That leaves them even with the Colts, who they play in Week 13, and a game back of the Texans. The Titans and Texans will play twice in the final three weeks of the season, including a Week 17 game that could loom very large in the AFC playoff picture.

Tannehill hit big plays through the air all day and piled up 259 passing yards on just 18 attempts. He completed 14 of those passes, including touchdowns on his longest and shortest gains through the air. The former was a 65-yarder by A.J. Brown and the latter was a one-yard toss to tackle Dennis Kelly.

Henry scored his two touchdowns 16 seconds apart — the Titans fumbled on a kickoff — and became the first player since LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006 to score two touchdowns in under 20 seconds of game time. Henry’s first score was a 74-yarder and he’s now scored seven touchdowns, including a 99-yard romp, in his last three games against Jacksonville.

The Jaguars scored 17 of their points after falling behind 35-3, so there wasn’t much that went right for them while Sunday’s game was actually a contest. It’s now three straight losses for the 4-7 Jaguars and failing to get right against the Buccaneers next weekend will extinguish whatever lingering playoff hopes may exist in Jacksonville.