It’s funny how just a few plays can determine the outcome of a football game. The big difference for the Titans tonight was that instead of being the team making those “just a few plays” that swing the outcome of a game, as we’ve been more often than not the last three months, and certainly the last 3 weeks, we were the team giving up those “just a few plays.”
Case in point: take away just one of those touchdowns the Chiefs made in the waning minutes of the second quarter, and the Titans win that game. We go into the second half with a modest lead and can pound Derrick Henry. Instead, we went into the second half with the Chiefs having a modest lead, and Derrick Henry gets only three (3) carries–THREE CARRIES–in the second half.
Jim Wyatt, at TitansOnline.com:
Running back Derrick Henry, dominant in the first two games of the postseason, was held in check on a day when the Titans abandoned the run in the second half while playing from behind.
Personally, with Derrick Henry having 16 carries in the first half for 62 yards, and only 3 carries in the second half for 7 yards, I don’t think it’s fair to say that Henry was “held in check” so much as is to say that without the lead, the Titans abandoned (were forced to abandon?) their winning formula. I just can’t for the life of me figure out why they did.
Still, who’d have thought back in the middle of October, when we were 2-4, that we’d be playing in our first AFC Championship game since 2002? The Titans, and the Titans Nation, wound up having a fantastic season, and certainly the last half dozen weeks have been an exhilarating ride!
If ownership can manage to keep the team together, next season could well be an even more exciting year! Go Titans!
