Colts defeat Titans, hold tiebreaker edge atop AFC South
Philip Rivers threw for 308 yards and a touchdown, and Nyheim Hines scored twice as the Indianapolis Colts beat the host Tennessee Titans 34-17 Thursday to grab the head-to-head edge atop the AFC South.
The Colts (6-3) will host the rematch in Indianapolis on Nov. 29 after helping coach Frank Reich improve to 4-1 against Titans coach Mike Vrabel. Indianapolis now is 14-5 at Nissan Stadium.
“We get a huge special teams touchdown and then offensively, shoot, we were rolling pretty good all day,” Rivers said. “We were very balanced, kind of got in a rhythm with the no-huddle. This was a huge road division win.”
Indianapolis came in with the NFL’s best defense in terms of fewest yards allowed. The Colts smothered a Tennessee offense that had been averaging 384.6 yards a game, 10th-best in the NFL, and seventh-best averaging 29 points a game. E.J. Speed also blocked a punt that T.J. Carrie returned 6 yards for a TD late in the third quarter.
The Colts outgained Tennessee 430-294, though Derrick Henry ran for 103 yards.
The Titans (6-3) lost for the third time in four games as they head into the toughest stretch of their season with Indianapolis the first of four straight opponents currently with winning records.
COVID updates: Linebacker Cory Littleton, who leads the Raiders with 48 tackles, was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
The list is used for players who either test positive for the coronavirus or have been quarantined after having been in close contact with someone who has been infected.
Other players landing on the reserve/COVID-19 list were wide receiver Matt Cole, linebacker Kyle Van Noy and defensive tackle Christian of the Dolphins and Jets tight end Travis Ross.
• The Bears activated safety...