![The Los Angeles Chargers play the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, October 20, 2019 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.
[FINAL SCORE: TEN 23 - LAC 20]](https://static.clubs.nfl.com/image/private/t_editorial_landscape_12_desktop_2x/t_lazy/f_auto/chargers/xbrk28pwj22tgb0toufl.jpg)
The Los Angeles Chargers fell to the Tennessee Titans, 23-20, Sunday, despite having two opportunities for a go-ahead touchdown on the Titans' 1-yard line in the final minute.
On the game's opening drive, the Chargers went for it on fourth and two on the Titans' 31-yard line, turning the ball over on downs after an incomplete pass from Philip Rivers to Hunter Henry. Earlier in the possession on third down, Henry made a diving catch for a 20-yard gain. The tight end finished the game with six catches for 97 yards receiving.
On fourth and eight on the Bolts' 43, the Titans lined up in punt formation, but punter Brett Kern instead passed to safety Kevin Byard for 11 yards and the first down. Three plays later, kicker Cody Parkey attempted his first field goal as a Titan, hitting a 45-yarder with 6:06 to play in the first quarter. The drive spanned nine plays and 42 yards and gave Tennessee a 3-0 advantage.
On the ensuing Chargers drive, Rivers hit Keenan Allen for a 16-yard gain on third and 15 on the Titans' 27-yard line.
Four plays later, kicker Chase McLaughlin's 29-yard field goal evened the score, 3-3, with two seconds left in the opening quarter.
The Chargers traveled 64 yards and 12 plays on the scoring drive, which lasted 6:00.
On third down for Tennessee, Chargers first-round-pick defensive tackle Jerry Tillery broke free in his first NFL start, forcing Ryan Tannehill to throw the ball away and setting up a punt. In Tannehill's first start of the season, he completed 23 of his 29 passes for 312 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
With the Chargers facing a third down on their next possession, another Bolts receiver made a highlight catch to move the chains, this time Allen dragging his right foot as he went out of bounds for a 17-yard gain.
A couple of plays later, it was Mike Williams' turn to expertly drag his second foot as he was falling out of bounds. After Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn's successful challenge of the play that was originally ruled incomplete, Williams had a 21-yard gain.
A second consecutive challenge went the Bolts' way after another Allen toe-tap, originally ruled a catch, was upheld.
Ultimately, the 94-yard drive ended in a 1-yard touchdown pass to the left from Rivers to a wide-open Melvin Gordon.
After a McLaughlin extra point, the Bolts took a 10-3 lead with 3:38 remaining in the first half. During the Chargers' 14-play possession, they had the ball for 7:36.
The Titans then responded with an efficient eight-play, 86-yard scoring drive that culminated in an 8-yard bullet-pass touchdown from Tannehill to wide receiver Corey Davis. Parkey's extra point knotted the game at 10 apiece with 26 seconds to go in the half.
On the first drive of the second half, defensive end Joey Bosa sacked Tannehill twice, the second forcing a Titans punt.
After a Bolts three-and-out, the Chargers regained possession on rookie safety Roderic Teamer's first career NFL interception. The ball was tipped by a hard-charging Uchenna Nwosu just before the USC product crashed into Tannehill.
The Titans took the lead on their next possession, a 14-play, 85-yard drive that spanned 7:09 and ended in a 5-yard touchdown pass from Tannehill to wide receiver Tajae Sharpe in the back of the end zone. After Parker doinked the extra point off of the right upright, Tennessee held a 16-10 advantage over Los Angeles with 13:11 to play in the contest.
The Bolts responded with a career-long 50-yard field goal by McLaughlin with 10:59 on the game clock.
The Titans then put together a seven-play, 75-yard drive, culminating in an 11-yard Derrick Henry touchdown run to the left with 6:39 remaining in the game. Parkey's successful extra point extended the Tennessee lead to 23-13. To go with his touchdown, Henry ran for 90 yards on 22 carries Sunday.
Just five plays later, Austin Ekeler, lined up out-wide to the right, stutter-stepped and beat his defender for a 41-yard touchdown reception on a perfect pass from Rivers.
On the drive, the Bolts advanced 75 yards on just four plays in 1:30. McLaughlin tacked on the extra point to cut the Chargers' deficit to three points at 23-20 with 5:09 left in the game.
On fourth and inches near midfield, the Titans went for it on a Tannehill sneak and failed to convert.
With 2:39 left in the game and trailing by a field goal, the Bolts took over possession.
On a third and four, Rivers found Williams for a first-down conversion that put the Chargers into field-goal range.
On the next play, the Bolts quarterback hit Ekeler for 19 yards to move the ball to the Titans' 16-yard line.
After an incomplete pass intended for Allen, Rivers connected with Ekeler, who was tackled a half-yard shy of the end zone.
Ekeler finished the game with seven catches for 118 yards receiving.
An offsides call set the Chargers back five yards, but then a defensive pass interference call on the Titans brought the ball back to the Titans' 1-yard line. On the next play, Gordon was initially ruled to have scored a touchdown, but the call was overturned.
Gordon then fumbled to end the Bolts' hopes of a victory.
Rivers moved to sixth all-time on the passing yards list, surpassing Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger in the loss. The 37-year-old veteran completed 24 of 38 passes for 329 yards passing and two touchdowns with no interceptions and a quarterback rating of 108.3 Sunday.
Nwosu had six total tackles, two tackles for a loss, a pass deflection and a hit on Tannehill, while Bosa contributed six total tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble, a tackle for a loss and three quarterback hits.
The Tennessee win is just the franchise's second in its past 13 matchups with the Chargers.
The Chargers fell to 2-5 and will face the 3-3 Bears next Sunday in Chicago. Kickoff is at 10:00 a.m. PT from Soldier Field.
Take a look though live action photos from Week 7's matchup against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium.
