Joey Slye converted a 29-yard field goal as time expired Sunday to lift the Tennessee Titans to a 22-21 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale, Ariz. for their first win of the season.
Slye’s kick capped a comeback from a 21-6 halftime deficit that saw rookie quarterback Cam Ward come to life in the fourth quarter, throwing for 193 of his 265 yards. Ward, who completed 21 of 39 passes with an interception, led a 71-yard drive in the last 1:53.
The big play was his 38-yard strike to Calvin Ridley that got the ball to the Arizona 15. Tony Pollard ran to the 4 on the next play and Ward kneeled three times, placing the ball in the middle for Slye to connect on his third field goal of the day.
Pollard’s 1-yard touchdown run got Tennessee (1-4) within 21-12 at the 10:26 mark. Tyler Lockett recovered a fumble in the end zone with 4:39 remaining to cap an improbable sequence that made it 21-19. Arizona’s Dadrion Taylor-Demerson dove to pick off a tipped Ward pass at the 5 and coughed up the ball when he stood up. A teammate kicked it to the 3, then Cardinals fighting for possession made the ball squirt across the goal line where Lockett dove on it ahead of two Cardinals.
Kyler Murray hit 23 of 31 passes for 220 yards for Arizona (2-3). Emari Demercado unwittingly started the Titans’ comeback when he dropped the ball just before completing what would have been a 72-yard touchdown run that would have made it 28-6 with 12:40 to go. Instead, it became a touchback and the Titans’ ball.
The Cardinals wasted no time denting the scoreboard, going 67 yards on their opening drive and scoring on Michael Carter’s 1-yard run just 4:06 into the game. Tennessee responded with Slye’s 44-yard field goal with five minutes left.
Murray made it 14-3 with 39 seconds left in the first, scrambling 12 yards around the right end to polish off a 65-yard drive. A Pollard fumble gave Arizona the ball at the Tennessee 27 on its next possession and Bam Knight cashed it in with a 1-yard plunge at the 10:43 mark.
Slye connected from 51 yards out on the Titans’ next possession. Tennessee started the drive off at the Cardinals’ 34 after a 65-yard kickoff return by Chimere Dike, but managed just one yard before sending Slye out for his field goal that made it 21-6 at the half.
–Field Level Media
