INDIANAPOLIS — It's still way, way too early in the season to realize any sort of significance, but half of the AFC South Division was able to flex its muscles in Week 2 action.
The Tennessee Titans were able to score 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to steal a 16-15 win against the Detroit Lions, while the Houston Texans never trailed in a 19-12 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The rest of the division was not as fortunate in Week 2, though the losses by the Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars came under much different circumstances.
While the Colts were in their game against the defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos pretty much the entire contest — unable to put together a game-winning drive in the final minute or so — the Jaguars saw the San Diego Chargers put up 35 unanswered points through the first three quarters before scoring two meaningless touchdowns in the fourth quarter of a 38-14 loss.
So here's a comprehensive look around the rest of the AFC South action during Week 2 of the 2016 regular season:
• Tennessee Titans 16, Detroit Lions 15
The Titans evened their record at 1-1 on the year off the heels of 13 straight fourth quarter points, including a game-winning, nine-yard pass from Marcus Mariota to former Colt Andre Johnson with 1:13 remaining to win, 16-15, at Detroit's Ford Field.
Things looked bleak for Tennessee heading into the fourth quarter, as they trailed 15-3 after the Lions found the scoreboard in a variety of ways, including forcing a safety, a 24-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to Anquan Boldin, and two Matt Prater field goals.
But the Titans grabbed hold of the momentum just six seconds into the fourth quarter, as Mariota connected with tight end Delanie Walker for a 30-yard touchdown pass to get within five at 15-10, and then earned their first lead of the game when Mariota and Johnson connected. The pass on the two-point conversion attempt fell incomplete.
Both teams fell victim to the yellow flag bug throughout the afternoon, combining for 29 penalties for 221 yards, but the difference came in the red zone, as the Lions were unable to score touchdowns on two goal-to-go situations on the day.
Mariota completed 25-of-33 passes for 238 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for a quarterback rating of 102.8. He found eight different receivers on the day, led by running back DeMarco Murray's seven receptions for 56 yards, while Walker had a team-best 83 yards receiving.
Murray also ran the ball 12 times for 89 yards — with a game-best 67-yard scamper in the second quarter — for an average of 7.4 yards per carry.
Linebacker Brian Orakpo had two sacks for the Titans' defense, which also got an interception from cornerback Perrish Cox.
Tennessee returns home on Sunday, as they play host to the Oakland Raiders (1-1), who fell to the Atlanta Falcons, 35-28, in Week 2.
———————————
• Houston Texans 19, Kansas City Chiefs 12
With 8:15 left in the first quarter of the Houston Texans' game against the Kansas City Chiefs at NRG Stadium, J.J. Watt was able to fall on a fumble by Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith.
On the very next play, Brock Osweiler cashed in with by finding DeAndre Hopkins down the right side of the field for a 27-yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.
The Texans (2-0) wouldn't look back from there, never trailing in a 19-12 home victory.
As it turned out, the Osweiler-to-Hopkins first quarter connection was the only touchdown on the day, as Texans kicker Nick Novak (4-of-5) and Chiefs kicker Cairo Santos (4-for-4) combined for eight made field goals in the contest the rest of the way.
Both teams struggled to continue drives on third down, combining to convert just 7-of-29 (24.1 percent) of their attempts. Both teams were also a combined 0-for-6 in attempts to find the end zone when they got into the red zone.
Osweiler completed 19-of-33 passes for 268 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in his second game as the Texans signal caller. Hopkins caught seven of those passes for a game-best 113 yards and a touchdown.
Lamar Miller ran the ball 25 times for 83 yards for Houston.
The Texans' defense, meanwhile, recovered three Chiefs fumbles on the day. Watt had five total tackles with 1.5 sacks, two quarterback hits, an additional tackle for loss and the aforementioned fumble recovery. Linebacker Bernardrick McKinney had a team-best eight tackles on the day with a sack.
Houston hits the road this week for a Thursday Night Football matchup against the New England Patriots (2-0) at Foxboro Stadium.
———————————
• San Diego Chargers 38, Jacksonville Jaguars 14
The San Diego Chargers' offense was on fire for three quarters last Sunday at Qualcomm Stadium.
The Jacksonville Jaguars' offense, meanwhile, couldn't do a thing to even try to keep up.
By the time the Jaguars scored their first touchdown with 12:54 left in the fourth quarter, the Chargers had already built a 35-0 lead. Jacksonville would add on a meaningless touchdown with 1:04 remaining, losing 38-14 in front of 52,165 fans in San Diego.
Jacksonville (0-2) actually had more total net yards, 388, than San Diego (1-1), 357, in the contest, but the Chargers were able to convert 7-of-13 on third down and strike big on a couple big plays, especially in the third quarter, when Philip Rivers threw for touchdown passes of 44 and 45 yards.
The Jaguars, meanwhile, were just 2-of-11 on third down attempts, and committed 14 penalties in the game for 93 yards.
Blake Bortles completed 31-of-50 passes for 329 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions apiece. The Jaguars were unable to get any sort of consistent running game going, as Bortles led all Jacksonville runners with 34 yards rushing.
Ten Jaguars receivers caught passes on the day, led by Marqise Lee's five receptions for 75 yards.
Paul Posluszny led Jacksonville's defense with a game-high 11 tackles, while Dante Fowler had two sacks to go along with six tackles.
The Jaguars on Sunday play host to the Baltimore Ravens (2-0) at EverBank Field.
