The Tennessee Titans outscored the Indianapolis Colts 26-7 after halftime at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday, October 18, turning a 13-0 deficit into a 26-20 win behind two fourth-quarter special teams scores and Joey Slye’s late field goals from 49 and 44 yards.
The Titans had not won all season. The victory moved them to 1-5, delivered Robert Saleh his first win as their head coach and ended a six-game losing streak against Indianapolis. The Colts dropped to 2-4.
How the game turned
Indianapolis owned the first half, piling up 232 yards to Tennessee’s 64, yet it went to the locker room with only a 13-point cushion. Safety Amani Hooker, back from a concussion, ended the Colts’ 13-play opening march with a leaping interception. Daniel Jones later found Mo Alie-Cox for a 1-yard touchdown, and Spencer Shrader added field goals of 23 and 47 yards, the second set up when Cam Bynum picked off Cam Ward.
The comeback started on the first snap of the second half. Jeffery Simmons ripped the ball from Jonathan Taylor and recovered it himself, and Slye converted from 29 yards.
Big Jeff doing it all on that turnover
📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/k62Fe0nPYK
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) October 18, 2026
After Cor’Dale Flott intercepted Jones, Slye hit from 56 yards with 3:21 left in the third quarter to make it 13-6. Early in the fourth, Chimere Dike broke a 58-yard punt return, and four plays later Ward threw an 8-yard touchdown to rookie Carnell Tate to tie the game.
The special teams struck again on the Colts’ next series. James Williams Sr. got a hand on Rigoberto Sanchez’s punt, and Oluwafemi Oladejo scooped it up and ran 14 yards for a 20-13 lead with 10:17 to play.
Blocked punt leads to a scoop and score by the defense‼️
📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/t6MOCAauY8
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) October 18, 2026
Indianapolis answered with an eight-play, 72-yard drive capped by Taylor’s 4-yard run with 5:32 left. A 36-yard pass interference penalty against Cam Taylor-Britt then pushed Tennessee into range, and Slye’s 49-yarder put the Titans ahead 23-20 with 2:03 remaining. The Colts turned it over on downs, Slye added a 44-yarder with 43 seconds left, and Jones’ final two deep throws fell incomplete.
The numbers that mattered
- Jeffery Simmons: six tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He now has 46 1/2 career sacks with the franchise, moving past Ted Washington into 10th place.
- Titans pass rush: six sacks of Jones, two each from Simmons and Jermaine Johnson II and one each from Tony Adams and Jacob Martin. The defense forced three turnovers.
- Joey Slye: 4 of 4 on field goals, from 29, 56, 49 and 44 yards.
- Cam Ward: 11 of 22 for 102 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Tony Pollard ran 19 times for 76 yards, and Tate caught six passes for 70 yards and his first NFL touchdown.
- Daniel Jones: 22 of 42 for 269 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Taylor ran for 94 yards on 21 carries and added 57 receiving yards; his score was the 83rd of his career, third-most in Colts history.
- Keenan Allen: eight catches for 82 yards, lifting him to ninth on the NFL’s career receptions list with 1,081.
Indianapolis outgained Tennessee 399 to 186 and held the ball for 38:32, but lost the turnover battle 3-1.
What they said
Saleh saw relief more than polish in the result. “Was this perfect? No. But today we made some freaking plays,” he said.
Colts coach Shane Steichen pointed to the turnovers and the breakdowns in the kicking game. “We’ve got a lot to fix, and we’ve got to fix it in a hurry,” he said.
Sanchez hurt his foot on the blocked punt, cornerback Sauce Gardner left with a calf injury and returner Anthony Gould entered the concussion protocol. Tight end Tyler Warren was inactive with a groin injury. At halftime the Colts inducted Adam Vinatieri into their Ring of Honor. The full box score is in the Game Center.
What comes next
The Titans return home to host the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, October 25, at 1 p.m. EDT. The Colts open a two-game road trip at the Minnesota Vikings the same day, also at 1 p.m. EDT.
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