DAVID CLIMER

Don't confuse bad football with bad luck

David Climer
dclimer@tennessean.com

At some point, these things have to start evening out for the Titans, don't they?

Don't they?

Maybe not.

Bad football tends to lead to bad karma and bad luck. And with five losses in their last six games, the Titans are among the NFL leaders in bad football.

Sunday was more of the same. A Washington team that had won only once — against Jacksonville, no less — in its six previous games took advantage of the Titans' typical late-game fade to win 19-17.

What now? Your guess is as good as mine. The Titans play at home against Houston before an open date at midseason. With a 2-5 record and with no momentum to speak of, any hope of a push for the playoffs is a pipe dream.

For those keeping score, the Titans' last trip to the postseason was 2008. That was three head coaches ago.

Yes, I know the Titans have been hit with a number of injuries, including quarterback Jake Locker's slow-to-heal thumb. Sorry, but that's life in the NFL. Washington has been playing without quarterback Robert Griffin III since Week 2. They don't let you call a timeout and wait for everybody to heal.

With Griffin out and Kirk Cousins ineffective in the first half, Washington coach Jay Gruden went to Colt McCoy. And the Titans immediately made McCoy look like the second coming of Joe Theismann.

McCoy's first pass was a 70-yard touchdown to Pierre Garcon. But it wasn't like McCoy walked in and delivered a perfect bomb to a well-covered Garcon. It was a short route and a quick throw — the kind of play that should get you seven or eight yards, tops.

But Titans cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson was playing well off Garcon and whiffed when he rushed in to make the tackle. Then safety Michael Griffin took a bad angle and Garcon outran him to the end zone.

Meanwhile, Locker's absence for the second straight game put Charlie Whitehurst into the huddle. The best thing Whitehurst has going for him is a firm understanding of the nuances of Ken Whisenhunt's offense thanks to the season they spent together in San Diego in 2013.

That, plus he is a low-mileage quarterback. He's spent the bulk of his nine-year pro career as a backup. Sunday marked his third start of the season but just the seventh of his career.

The Titans struggled to get into an offensive flow — again. They managed only 102 yards in the first half and just 236 for the game.

It went beyond lousy numbers. The Titans burned two timeouts in the first quarter because of communications issues that had the play clock ticking low. Combined with Whisenhunt's unsuccessful challenge of an official's call, the Titans were out of first-half timeouts by the start of the second quarter.

Even when the Titans had everything mapped out perfectly, things went awry. At one point in the third quarter, Whisenhunt had a great play called — a screen pass to the left — against a Washington blitz. But the Titans failed to execute it when Whitehurst's pass, which was slightly high but catchable, skipped off the hands of running back Bishop Sankey.

It was just another play in just another game but it was a telling sequence. For a team with such a small margin for error, the Titans can't afford such lapses in execution.

Despite all that, the Titans had their chances. They took a 17-16 lead at the 7:41 mark of the fourth quarter when Whitehurst hit Derek Hagan on a 38-yard touchdown pass.

Shortly thereafter, the Titans defense forced a punt, putting the offense in position to work on the clock. But a holding penalty against center Brian Schwenke on first down took the Titans off-schedule and Whisenhunt went conservative with his play calls. After three straight runs, the Titans punted the ball back to Washington with 3:14 to go.

That was plenty of time.

As if Washington needed any help, the Titans contributed to their own demise. On a day where they committed 11 penalties, none was bigger than a pass interference call against cornerback Jason McCourty in the closing minute.

With Washington teetering on the edge of Kai Forbath's field goal range, quarterback Colt McCoy aimed a deep pass down the right sideline toward DeSean Jackson. As Jackson accelerated, McCourty grabbed his left arm. The resulting flag moved Washington to the Tennessee 7.

Three plays later, Forbath kicked the winning field goal as time expired.

Speaking of expiring, what's the expiration date on this season?

David Climer's columns appear on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Reach him at 615-259-8020 and on Twitter @DavidClimer.