Carnell Tate gets his first NFL touchdown, and three of the Titans’ biggest gains, in the comeback at Indianapolis

Carnell Tate waited six games for his first NFL touchdown, and it arrived at the moment the Tennessee Titans needed it most: an 8-yard catch from Cam Ward that tied Sunday’s game at Indianapolis 13-13 and set up the 26-20 win that ended their winless start.

The rookie from Ohio State, taken fourth overall in April, finished with six catches for 70 yards. Nobody else on the Tennessee offense came close to that kind of afternoon in a game the Colts dominated on the stat sheet, outgaining the Titans by 213 yards.

Tate gets his first NFL TD!

📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/sQ7HfdARtC

— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) October 18, 2026

“It felt good, to go out there and finally get a touchdown,” Tate said after the game.

The catches that moved the chains

Tennessee managed only 11 first downs all day, and Tate was behind a good share of them. He was credited with three of the team’s four longest plays from scrimmage: a 19-yarder on third-and-10, an 18-yarder and a 14-yarder, each one extending a drive.

The touchdown came after Chimere Dike’s 58-yard punt return put the ball deep in Colts territory. Four plays later, Ward found Tate for the score, and from there the special teams and the defense took over. Oluwafemi Oladejo returned a blocked punt for a touchdown, and Joey Slye closed it out with two long kicks in the final minutes.

Ward, who completed 11 of 22 passes for 102 yards, talked about his rookie target after the game.

QB Cam Ward on WR Carnell Tate pic.twitter.com/lYywbFWQnu

— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) October 18, 2026

A rookie season that keeps adding up

It was also the third time this year Tate has reached six receptions and 50 yards in the same game. No Titans receiver had three such games in one season since DeAndre Hopkins in 2023, and no Titans rookie receiver had done it since Kendall Wright in 2012.

His best day so far came in Week 4 against Baltimore, when he caught nine passes for 145 yards. The week before Indianapolis was harder: five targets against Houston produced a single 6-yard reception in a loss that dropped Tennessee to 0-5.

That record weighed on a player who lost only a handful of games in three seasons at Ohio State and won a national championship there. Asked about the start last Wednesday, Tate did not dress it up. “I ain’t never lose like this in my life,” he said, adding that the team was trying to turn it around.

One win later, the Titans are 1-5, Robert Saleh has his first victory as their head coach, and the offense has a young receiver it can build around. More on his season is on the Carnell Tate player page, and the full box score is in the Game Center.

What comes next

The Cleveland Browns visit Nissan Stadium on Sunday, October 25, with kickoff set for 1 p.m. EDT, and Tate gets his next chance in front of the home crowd.