The Brian Callahan era in Tennessee endured another ugly, sloppy moment Sunday during the Titans' 41-20 blowout loss to the Colts at Nissan Stadium.

In the closing minute of the first half, the Colts took a timeout as Tennessee faced a fourth-and-1 from the Indianapolis 39-yard line. Debating about whether or not to take a field goal, Callahan proceeded to call timeout after the Colts' stoppage, but still hadn't made his mind up. When play resumed, the Titans' field-goal unit was out on the gridiron—but they didn't get the snap off in time and were backed up five yards for a delay of game penalty.

Titans kicker Joey Slye's ensuing 62-yard field-goal attempt was blocked, and the Colts went down and kicked a field goal of their own before halftime to extend their lead to 20-6.

Later on the CBS broadcast, reporter Amanda Balionis explained the Titans were upset about the penalty because they didn't believe the referee took the K-ball (a football specifically used for kicks) from the Tennessee staffer on the sideline in time.

"When I talked to a couple of guys from the Titans, they said [the K-ball guy] was standing there. The ref didn't take it," Balionis said. "That's what caused the delay of game."

Still, though, Callahan and the Titans had the length of two full timeouts to decide on either kicking a field goal or going for fourth down.

Callahan explained his thought process after the game.

"We were talking about going for it or kicking it. ... We went to kick it, and they were waiting for some operational things to uncover. We'd like that to go faster," Callahan said. "Obviously, we had no intention of taking a delay of game there. Didn't want that to happen, obviously looks really bad at the end of the day."

Two weeks ago, Callahan incorrectly explained that he didn't challenge a would-be catch by Titans rookie Elic Ayomanor because the receiver would have to get a foot and elbow down inbounds to complete a reception. His logic two weeks ago was wrong—NFL rules clearly state a player needs either two feet or a body part, like an elbow, inbounds to complete a catch. And on Sunday, Callahan's indecisiveness cost the Titans, who dropped to 0-3 on the year and 3-17 under his watch.


More NFL on Sports Illustrated


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Titans Pin Delay of Game Penalty on Refs Despite Brian Callahan's Indecisiveness.

Test hyperlink for boilerplate