NASHVILLE — For a while at least, the Tennessee Titans showed progress in their 27-24 Monday night loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

There was rookie quarterback Zach Mettenberger shaking off an early pick-six to lead his team to 24 points, including a pair of touchdown throws to finish two of the scoring marches.

But in the end, it was more of the same for a Titans team that no longer seems to know how to hold onto leads and win games.

The Titans fell to 2-8, but in three games this season – against the Cleveland Browns, Washington Redskins and on Monday night against the Steelers, Tennessee had leads in the fourth quarter only to let the game slip away. In a best-case scenario, the Titans could be 5-5, if only they could find a way to close things. It’s almost like they are a baseball team with a bad bullpen, blowing saves in the late innings.

For many Titans, the losses are getting frustrated.

“We feel very close, but we’re not doing enough to win football games,” Mettenberger said. “That’s the bottom line, the most important thing.”

As for the way the Titans lost Monday night, it came down to their defense not being able to get off the field after punting the football back to the Steelers with just under seven minutes to play and trailing by three points.

The Titans had to figure they would get the football back at least once more, but the Steelers’ offensive line and running back LeVeon Bell said otherwise. In all, Bell finished with 204 yards, grinding up the Titans and the clock at the end, while the offense watched helplessly on the sideline, hoping for one final chance that never game.

It has been that type of season for the Titans.

“For us as a team where we are now, there were probably three or four things that you could point out in the fourth quarter that we have to do better,” Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt said.

But that’s how it goes for a team that has such a small margin for error nearly every time it takes the field.

–Tight end Chase Coffman, who was fined $30,000 for a hit on Ravens assistant coach Tony Comaux on the sideline in Week 10, said the play was accidental and that he plans to appeal the fine to the NFL.

“I’m not going to go into too much detail, because I haven’t yet talked to the league about it. I’m still waiting to do that,” Coffman said. “It was an accident. I was off balance. I’ve already talked to Tony about it, the coach that I ran into, and we’ve both moved on. I’m gonna leave it at that and talk to the league about it when that time comes.”

The play made national headlines when a clip of it was played on FOX’s pre-game show Sunday, appearing to show Coffman laying Comaux out rather than chase a defender following an interception.

The fine didn’t seem to hamper Coffman’s play on Monday night as he had three catches for 32 yards and a touchdown against the Steelers.

REPORT CARD VS STEELERS

PASSING OFFENSE: B – Zach Mettenberger recovered nicely from an early pick-six to throw for 263 yards and two touchdowns. Mettenberger was not sacked after being taken down five times the previous week against Baltimore. He is showing signs of being the team’s quarterback of the future.

RUSHING OFFENSE: F – The Titans don’t seem to be able to stick with the run, even when they have the lead as they did Monday night. Rushing for just 49 yards is not a great way to help a rookie quarterback.

PASS DEFENSE: C – Tennessee sacked Ben Roethlisberger five times, largely through aggressive blitzing, but when crunch time came, they could not stop Antonio Brown from making key plays, including the decisive touchdown catch.

RUSHING DEFENSE: F – LeVeon Bell rushed for 204 yards on 33 carries, and salted the game away with his rushing in the final 6:58 when the Titans desperately needed a stop to get the football back for Mettenberger and the offense.

SPECIAL TEAMS: D — Two poor punts from Brett Kern in the fourth quarter hurt the Titans late in the game as they were trying to control field position. One led to the go-ahead scoring drive and the other came as the Titans needed to pin the Steelers deep after opting not to go on fourth down.

COACHING: D – At 2-7 coming in, the Titans should have been a little more daring. For example, they took a 20-yard field goal on a fourth-and-goal at the Steelers’ 2-yard line instead of going for a touchdown. The Titans also seem to be too quick to abandon the running game.