Chargers defeat Titans, but Joe Alt's ankle injury casts shadow over victory

Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times on Nov 2, 2025

Published in Football

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Los Angeles Chargers won the battle but lost a warrior.

They held off the Tennessee Titans 27-20, but saw their outstanding left tackle Joe Alt go down with the same injured ankle that sidelined him earlier this season.

It was a troubling and ominous blow Sunday to a franchise that’s in a constant state of reshuffling its offensive line and unable to sufficiently protect quarterback Justin Herbert. Before losing Alt, the Chargers lost right tackle Bobby Hart to what they called a groin injury (but looked to be a hurt leg).

On a cool and overcast day, the Chargers had enough to get past the one-win Titans — the Chargers (6-3) were favored by 9 1/2 points — but will face far stiffer competition in the second half of the season. The Titans haven’t won at home since last Nov. 4.

Herbert, who ran for 62 yards in the Week 8 win over Minnesota, again provided the bulk of the Chargers running game. He led all rushers with 57 yards in nine carries, including a one-yard touchdown.

The Titans fired coach Brian Callahan last month after the team got off to a 1-5 start, putting in place interim coach Mike McCoy, who was head coach of the San Diego Chargers from 2013-16.

The Chargers absorbed a huge blow in the second quarter when Alt went down with an ankle injury, the same ankle that caused him to miss three games earlier this season. Alt, the best player on the offensive line, had returned for the Week 8 game against Minnesota and his presence was noticeable in both run blocking and protection of Herbert’s blind side.

But Sunday, he was felled by 285-pound Titans edge rusher Jihad Ward, who was blocked into the back of Alt’s legs. Alt sat on the turf for a few minutes, surrounded by Chargers medical staff, before a cart rolled onto the field to take him off.

It was the latest setback for an offensive line besieged by them this season, and an indication that Herbert will remain constantly vulnerable to hits and harassment this season.

Even though the Titans were without defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons, their best player, Herbert was still under near-constant pressure.

Herbert threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half, although his first throw was abysmal. It was straight into the arms of Tennessee linebacker Cody Barton, who turned the visitors’ second play from scrimmage into a 24-yard pick-six.

As he does virtually every week, Herbert picked up some big gains with his feet. He had a 39-yard scramble in the second quarter, and rolled out in the fourth and scored his first rushing touchdown of the season, sliding in from a yard out. That capped a 15-play, nine-minute, 99-yard drive in response to a goal-line stand.

The Titans (1-8), who have had troubles moving the ball in the red zone, scored their second touchdown of the half on a 67-yard punt return by rookie Chimere Dike, who leads the NFL in all-purpose yards.

Those issues in the red zone were on display in the third quarter, when the Titans had four plays inside the 10 and couldn’t score, including third and fourth downs from the one.

Anchoring the middle of the Chargers defense was Daiyan Henley, playing two days after his older brother was shot and killed. After a sack in the first half, the third-year linebacker dropped to his knees and turned his palms to the sky and held out his hands in prayer.

Edge rusher Odafe Oweh had a pair of sacks, bringing his total to four in four games since being traded to the Chargers by Baltimore last month.

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