The Sports Xchange

NASHVILLE — Another close loss, and another game that could have – no make that should have – been won by the Tennessee Titans.

Instead, by collapsing again in the fourth quarter, the Titans lost to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday and now find themselves doing their weekly soul searching as to why they are not cracking the win column with any regularity.

The Titans dropped to 1-3 with the 14-13 defeat and are now 3-17 during the Ken Whisenhunt regime that now has lasted 20 games in Tennessee.

Not surprisingly, frustration abounds everywhere, especially in the locker room after such losses. The Titans legitimately could be 3-1 this season had it not been for giving away games against the Colts (35-33) and the Bills.

No Titans player was more flustered by what transpired Sunday than wide receiver Kendall Wright, who was the target on quarterback Marcus Mariota’s interception on the final pass of the game. Wright caught just three passes for 29 yards, and though he leads the Titans with 16 catches and 26 targets, he said after Sunday’s game that he believes he is either under-utilized or being utilized incorrectly.

“It’s very frustrating. I’m beyond frustrated because I don’t feel like I’m being able to do what I can do until late in games,” Wright said. “I feel like I’m a good receiver, and I’ve been open, and I can beat the DBs whoever has been holding me, but I haven’t really been given the opportunities I’ve been looking for. Besides that, I feel like we’re really close, us as a group. We’ve had a few drops in the group, but we’ve just got to clean that up and make some plays.”

Wright indicated that he does not feel like he is a relevant part of the offense right now, despite stats that indicate to the contrary. He is on pace for 64 catches, which is better than his 57 a year ago, but still far off the pace of his 2013 season when he had 94 receptions. Asked if more passes his way would make him more relevant, Wright replied, “That could be relevant. However you want to put it, that’s what I’m saying. However anybody wants to put it, I just want to be relevant again. I don’t feel like I’m being relevant.”

When asked Monday about Wright’s comments, head coach Ken Whisenhunt chalked it up as postgame frustration spurred on by another close loss.

“You want players that want the ball and I think when you lose a game like we did yesterday, like the last two where you feel like you should win, everybody is frustrated. And Kendall obviously feels like he can help us win. There’s no issue there,” Whisenhunt said. “We talked today. I talked with Kendall today, and obviously, if you look statistically he is an important part. He’s our leading receiver. He’s getting a lot of targets, and his production is way up. He will continue to be a big part of our offense.”

REPORT CARD VS. BILLS

–PASSING OFFENSE: D. Marcus Mariota had his first game where he was not really crisp in throwing the football. Mariota still completed 21 of 32 throws, but had just 187 yards and for the first time had no touchdown passes. Mariota also threw an interception at the end of the game with the Titans trailing by a point.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: F. Mariota was the Titans’ leading rusher with 44 yards on the ground. The Titans were just not able to muster much of anything rushing, gaining just 97 yards. Without Mariota’s contributions, which were a mix of scrambles with a couple of designed bootlegs, the Titans would have had just 53 yards rushing.

–PASS DEFENSE: B. They bottled up Tyrod Taylor for much of the day, and did not let him get going through the air at all, except on the final fateful drive. It was then that Coty Sensabaugh surrendered a 46-yard pass from Taylor to Chris Hogan that set up first-and-goal for the Bills. Taylor and Hogan then hooked up again for the winning TD.

–RUN DEFENSE: B-minus. The Titans were helped by the fact that LeSean McCoy and Karlos Williams were out with injuries. They did a good job slowing down the Bills running backs, but were burned by Tyrod Taylor’s 76 yards rushing, including a 22-yard TD and a 24-yard scramble on third-and-23.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: C. Ryan Succop took care of business with two field goals, and punter Brett Kern did a decent job of maintaining field position on the day. But Bishop Sankey’s two muffs on kickoffs may have cost him that job as Dexter McCluster was back deep before the Bills’ final kickoff.

–COACHING: F. A blitz and man-to-man coverage that allowed Tyrod Taylor to scramble 24 yards on a third-and-23 was bad enough, but then the Titans called a low percentage pass, having Marcus Mariota heave the ball 30 yards downfield on the first play after getting the football back with a chance to win with 1:41 left and trailing by a point. The ball was picked off and the Titans dropped their third straight.