Breece Hall answered every camp question about his health with 22 carries for 102 yards and a 4-yard touchdown, his first score of the season. Rookie tight end Kenyon Sadiq added a scoop on an end-around to the pylon for his first career touchdown, and Jason Sanders — elevated from the practice squad days before kickoff to replace an injured Blake Grupe — made all three of his field-goal tries, from 33, 51 and 52 yards.
Tennessee's offensive line, already down two starters at kickoff, never found an answer. New York's front got home for 3 sacks and turned Ward's day into a string of rushed, inaccurate throws. His lone touchdown, a late strike to Elic Ayomanor, came only after the Jets had built the game out of reach.
New York led at the half and never trailed, holding the ball for close to 39 minutes and letting Hall and the ground game bleed the clock in the second half. It was a domination built on the trenches and time of possession as much as any single explosive play — exactly the kind of game a patched-together Titans front couldn't survive.
Saleh had spent the week waving off any revenge-game framing, and his old team made sure the storyline didn't need his help. A Jets defense that came in thin at cornerback and linebacker held Tennessee's retooled skill group — Calvin Ridley, rookie Carnell Tate, Wan'Dale Robinson — to a combined line that never threatened, and the Titans' first game under a new coach and a new offense looked exactly as disjointed as an untested install often does.