Matthew Stafford's performance through his first eight games in a Los Angeles Rams uniform put him in the NFL MVP conversation, but Sunday felt more like the bad old days in Detroit for the veteran quarterback.
Hounded throughout the game by the Tennessee Titans' defence, Stafford threw two critical interceptions as the Rams fell 28-16 at home.
The turning point of the game occurred early in the second quarter, when Stafford tried to throw the ball away while being pulled down by Jeffrey Simmons in the end zone.
His blind heave landed in the arms of Titans linebacker David Long, who returned it to the two-yard line and set up a Tennessee touchdown on the next play.
The Rams (7-2) got the ball back after the kick-off and Stafford took to the air again, trying to hit Robert Woods, but Titans defensive back Kevin Byard jumped it and went 24 yards for the Titans' second TD in 11 seconds.
It was the 24th time Stafford had an interception returned for a touchdown, the most of any active NFL quarterback.
"I mean, I basically spotted them 14 points," Stafford told reporters. "Can't do that in the NFL, especially against a good team like that that wants to get out in front, run the football, mix coverages, do all that kind of stuff. Just wasn't good enough early in the game.
"Turnovers really killed us and those are on me, so if I clean those up and I know I will, I've got a lot of confidence in this team to go out there and play some really good football."
Though Stafford could have made better decisions on both of those plays, Tennessee's defenders were flying around the field all game.
The Rams had surrendered an NFL-low eight sacks through the first eight games, but the Titans (7-2) brought down Stafford five times on Sunday.
"Those guys played fantastic," Titans head coach Mike Vrabel said of his defence. "It was fun to watch them play.
"We really think that group is playing with a lot of confidence right now. They would be able to come in here and play the way they did and hold them to field goals, and we played great in red zone."
Tennessee twice forced the Rams to settle for field goals in the red zone and did not surrender a touchdown until Stafford threw a three-yard pass to Sony Michel with 24 seconds to play in the game.
It all added up to a winning formula for the Titans even as they managed just 194 yards of total offence while playing without their injured star Derrick Henry.
"Those guys played some great ball defensively. It made up for our lack of offence," said veteran running back Adrian Peterson, who signed with Tennessee this week and scored his 125th career touchdown.
"You hear all this talk about the Rams' defence. What about the Titans' defence? Those guys came out and played outstanding."