Tennessee Titans star defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons essentially cost his team a chance at a comeback with the dumbest penalty of Week 1.
The Titans were trailing the Denver Broncos 20-12 with about three minutes to go in Sunday’s game at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Co. Tennessee had the Broncos facing a 3rd and 10 near midfield, and a stop would have left the team with ample time to try to put together a late touchdown drive.
The Titans did get that stop, as linebacker Cody Barton was able to wrap up wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. near the line of scrimmage. However, after the play was blown dead, Simmons charged in and smashed into both Barton and Mims.
That led to a very easy unnecessary roughness flag on Simmons, giving Denver an automatic first down.
The play was blown dead right before Simmons hits here. 15 yard personal foul flag for the Titans. pic.twitter.com/e6Vt4H5S4j
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) September 7, 2025
The play was dead when Simmons made his intervention. The whistle had already blown, and Mims was considered down. The Titans were essentially off the field until this happened. People may not like it, but something like that is going to be flagged every time.
The penalty essentially allowed the Broncos to run an extra two minutes off the clock. Tennessee still got the ball back, but they did so with about a minute left instead of the three minutes they were poised to have before the flag. They only managed three incomplete passes and a sack, and the Broncos sealed up the victory.
Simmons is an integral part of the Tennessee defensive line, and has 31.5 sacks in six NFL seasons. However, he has been criticized in the past for failing to keep his cool in key situations. This sort of thing will bring those concerns back to the forefront, even if the Titans were still facing long odds to win the game.
