The Titans and rookie quarterback Cam Ward had the ball on the Broncos side of the field with chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter Sunday.

Then the Broncos defense took over in Denver’s 20-12 win at Empower Field at Mile High.

Broncos returner Marvin Mims muffed a punt to set up the Titans at the Broncos 24-yard line. After a 2-yard run by Tony Pollard, Ward was sacked on back-to-back plays by Jonah Elliss and Zach Allen to knock Tennessee out of field goal range. The Titans punted and the Broncos went 80 yards in four plays to extend the lead to 8 points after a 19 yard run by J.K. Dobbins.

“Can’t take a sack in those situations,” Titans coach Brian Callahan said. “It’s a learning moment for him (Ward). This is a really tough test out the gate. His first start against this defense in this stadium.”

The Broncos sacked Ward six times in the win and held him to 112 yards through the air. The Titans were forced to kick just four field goals in the game despite Denver turning the ball over four times.

“Incredibly frustrating,” Callahan, who coached with the Broncos 2010-15 said. “Those are opportunities to score points and put the game away.”

After Bo Nix’s interception in the first quarter, the Titans fumbled the ball inside the 20 and came away with no points. The Titans got a field goal after Nix’s fumble in the second quarter and got another field goal in the third quarter after Nix’s second pick.

But not scoring a touchdown in any of those situations cost Tennessee in a close game.

“We didn’t score a touchdown today,” Ward, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft, said. “We will try to score a touchdown next week, try to score a couple of them next week, so we just got to keep on grinding.”

Ward faced one of the NFL’s best pass rushes from the Broncos. Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper, Zach Allen and others were in the backfield all day. The Broncos registered 10 quarterback hits to go along with their six sacks.

But Ward knows he can’t take back-to-back sacks like he did in the fourth quarter.

“Just got to be better in that situation,” he said. “Knowing we’re on the edge of field goal range, I can’t take a bad sack. I need to be better at getting the ball out or having to get out the pocket and throw it away.”

Callahan wanted the Titans to run the ball to keep the Broncos pass rush at bay but struggled to get much going on the ground. The Titans rushed 21 times for 71 yards. Pollard led the team with 60 yards.

The lack of success in the running game led to the Titans being in several third down and long situations. Tennessee only converted 2 of its 14 third-down chances.

“I felt like we were in third and 10 plus almost the whole game,” Callahan said. “So, it’s hard to get a rhythm going offensively. We were trying to run the ball, so we don’t drop back and face their pass rush every snap.”