That loud thump you heard early Saturday evening does not indicate a problem with your TV set. It was the sound of one large and troublesome monkey being decisively flung off the backs of the Tennessee Titans.
That Jeff Fisher’s team at last exorcised some of the ghosts of five straight losses to the Baltimore Ravens—including the 24-10 fleecing here that may well have cost the Titans a trip to the Super Bowl three Januarys ago—was perhaps the least surprising development on a surprising afternoon.
More startling was the way Tennessee’s 20-17 victory transpired. Eddie George reasserted his old claim as the team’s breadwinner, thanks to an old-school frontal assault that allowed the Titans to regain their swagger when the Ravens are around. They won despite a merely mortal performance by Steve McNair. And they survived despite the turnovers that proved fatal in their last two playoff losses and against the Colts in Nashville earlier this season.
Though Tennessee finished the regular season at 12-4, with three losses coming against divisional champions, and although the rebuilt Ravens barely won a weak division, a lot of watchers guessed that the Titans wouldn’t survive a road game against their old nemesis. Baltimore’s snarling team and sneering coach, Brian Billick, seem to have gained some sort of psychological hold over the Titans (or at least Titans’ fans).
So widespread was the belief that Eddie had become afraid of Ravin’ Ray Lewis that it even became a subject of speculation among the Media Geniuses during the week before the game. Others, like ESPN’s Ron Jaworski, suggested that George could no longer sustain a running game whether Lewis was on the field or not.
In the end, George finished with 88 hard-earned yards. The team finished with an astonishing 165 yards on the ground against a defense that had long seemed unassailable. Even those who thought the Titans might win probably never imagined that they would run right over Mr. Lewis and his friends.
According to the general wisdom, the scenario for a Tennessee victory at Baltimore went something like this. The Titans’ tough run defense would neutralize NFL rushing champion Jamal Lewis, make the Ravens one-dimensional and dare journeyman QB Anthony Wright to beat them. Meanwhile, as they had done to others all years, McNair and an underrated corps of receivers would open up the Ravens’ D.
The first scenario went even better than Fisher and his staff might have hoped. The Titans stuffed Lewis all afternoon, limiting him to 35 yards. Though Wright and Todd Heap came close, they couldn’t beat Tennessee alone.
The Ravens apparently shared the media’s guess about the Titans’ offensive plans. They focused on McNair and held Derrick Mason to only three catches. They probably never imagined the Titans would run so often or so well.
That they all were wrong must be credited in large part to offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger, whose calls kept Baltimore’s defense off balance consistently. Heimerdinger set the tone on Tennessee’s first offensive play, when McNair rolled right on a naked bootleg and threw to Drew Bennett. It produced a first down, but it was also a feint that opened the way for George and Chris Brown to plow through the middle.
McNair clicked on a TD bomb to Justin McCareins, but otherwise he had anything but a Co-MVP day. One of his interceptions became a Baltimore TD, and another cost the Titans at least a field goal try.
But George, playing most of the second half with a dislocated shoulder, picked up the slack. With the emergence of Brown and the expense of Eddie, the Titans will face a big decision about their running back spot this winter. They’ll face another huge loss if the Chicago Bears reciprocate Heimerdinger’s interest in a head coaching position.
But if somehow, improbable as it seems, George departs Nashville in the next year or two—and, inevitable as it seems, Heimerdinger is soon snatched away by some needy team—they will at least have helped Titans fans resolve some old, unfinished business.
Since that infamous afternoon in 2000, Nashvillians have fixed on the image of Ray Lewis stripping George of the football and taking it to the end zone for the score that broke Tennessee’s back and, seemingly, the Titans’ spirit.
Now, George has finally erased that image and recorded a new one over it. After Saturday, the mind’s eye sees visions of George ramming straight through the Ravens’ line, leaving Lewis on the ground, on his knees, fuming.
How It Looks from the La-Z-Boy
Titans 20, Patriots 17
If you thought the going looked rough in Baltimore, wait ’til you see this week’s hurdles. The Pats are the hottest team in the NFL. Unlike the limping, banged-up visitors, they’re healthy and well rested. They’ve already smoked the Titans’ defense once this year. Their head coach is a defensive wizard. And, if all that weren’t enough, the Titans get to play them in the frigid New England weather that always strengthens the Patriots.
And yet a number of observers believe that, of all the playoff contenders, Tennessee is best equipped to knock off the Pats at home. As they showed last weekend, they can still play a grinding, field position game as well as a freewheeling, aerial one. Of all the teams that can play through injuries to their stars, the Titans may be the best. And of all those who seem to thrive when underdogs, the Titans may be the most consistent.
So flip a coin. The head says Patriots. The gut says Titans.
Colts 34, Chiefs 27
The Colts almost surely can’t again play as brilliantly as they did in dismantling Denver last Sunday. On the other hand, they may not need to against a Kansas City defense that has looked porous in recent weeks.
Eagles 20, Packers 14
Panthers 23, Rams 21
LSU 21, Southern Cal 17?
Well, we’ll never know, will we? We can only guess how a true championship game might have turned out. For now, we have a split championship, and maybe that’s not such a bad thing.
For its part, USC dominated a very good Michigan team in the Rose Bowl, while LSU whacked an Oklahoma squad that fell apart after looking impregnable for 11 weeks.
But the real loser was the BCS, whose promoters resorted to Snoop Dog videos in an effort to lend some summizzle to their tarnished game. But no matter how many times they showed that crystal football trophy, you could peer into the glass and see the BCS’ days as we know them are numbered. A playoff is in our future. Thank God. And thank the godforsaken BCS.
Comments (0)