NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As they fell to 2-9, the Tennessee Titans showed that the grind of losing was wearing on them.

The Titans were barely competitive against the Philadelphia Eagles in a 43-24 loss Sunday. They trailed by double digits most of the day, briefly getting as close as 20-14 in the second quarter before Philly regained its comfortable margin.

The Titans were deficient in a number of ways in losing their fifth game in a row, and what appears to be most disturbing is that many of the same issues continue to crop up week after week and rarely seem to stay fixed.

Tennessee’s defense was atrocious on Sunday, missing numerous tackles, which helped the Eagles post 43 points and roll up 462 yards. Chip Kelly’s fast-break offense even won time of possession, which is usually unheard of. The Eagles controlled the football for more than 33 minutes, thanks to the Titans’ many issues.

Missed tackles and poor gap control again were problems for the Titans.

“It’s a repeat of every week, it seems,” defensive end Jurrell Casey said. “It comes down to a lot of missed tackles, stopping the catch, making the tackle after the catch, things like that were killing us today. They were able to get a lot of YAC (yards after catch) today.”

Offensively, Zach Mettenberger continues to offer some hope for the future, throwing for 345 yards and a pair of touchdowns. But other than tight end Delanie Walker, who returned from a concussion sustained two weeks ago to catch five passes for 155 yards, the rookie QB from LSU had little help.

He was sacked five times for the second time in four starts; and, while the rookie admitted he needs to get the ball out faster, the offensive line was terrible for much of the day.

The running game, which should be a young quarterback’s best friend, was non-existent for the second straight game, contributing only 52 yards against the Eagles, after managing 49 Monday night against the Steelers.

“At this point, to me, records don’t matter,” said rookie left tackle Taylor Lewan, who is perhaps the only offensive lineman playing better than average football right now. “If I listen to the record, I’m going to be in a pretty bad mood. I’m trying to focus on what we can do to improve and get better as a team and individuals. What else do you want to do? You just have to keep going. There are five games left.”

Four of the five games look somewhat winnable — beginning this week against the Houston Texans, who are expected to trot Ryan Fitzpatrick back out at quarterback after losing Ryan Mallett to a torn pectoral muscle.

But for a team that has fallen into the rut of losing, getting out of that mindset appears much easier said than done.

NOTES: Mettenberger completed only one of his first seven throws, for four yards, before he found a rhythm and finished 20 of 39 for a franchise rookie high of 345 yards. … RBs Bishop Sankey and Dexter McCluster are being evaluated for concussions. … FS Michael Griffin injured his shoulder but finished the game. … C Brian Schwenke (knee) is being evaluated. … LT Taylor Lewan left the game with a left ankle injury. … LB Kamerion Wimbley injured his hamstring.

REPORT CARD VS. EAGLES

–PASSING OFFENSE: C — Zach Mettenberger is hardly the problem — he threw for 345 yards Sunday — though he is occasionally guilty of holding the football too long on deep throws. Mettenberger was sacked five times, and the Titans were a woeful 2 of 12 on third downs.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: F — Tennessee either can’t run the football or abandoned the run when it fell behind 17-0. Either way, the Titans are simply bad when it comes to gaining yards on the ground to take some pressure off Mettenberger. They ran for just 52 yards Sunday after a 49-yard effort Monday night.

–PASS DEFENSE: F — Yes, the Titans got two interceptions Sunday, but Mark Sanchez throws about two a game anyway. What should be alarming to the Titans is their missed tackles and blown assignments that allowed Sanchez to throw for 307 yards.

–RUSHING DEFENSE: F — LeSean McCoy had 100 yards in the first half and finished with 130, as missed tackles contributed greatly to the Titans’ issues. It was the second straight game Tennessee’s run defense has been guilty of poor tackling.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: F — Josh Huff returned the opening kickoff 107 yards for a touchdown and the rout was on for the Eagles. The Titans’ special teams rarely contribute a major play in a positive way. They need to quit contributing them in negative ways for a team that has such a small margin for error.

–COACHING: F — Give credit for one thing: The Titans kept fighting after falling behind 17-0, but the team looked poorly equipped and poorly prepared for Sunday’s game.