No one would have batted an eye had the Tennessee Titans folded up shop late in the fourth quarter against the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football. Two backbreaking turnovers set the Dolphins up for easy touchdowns, giving them a 14-point lead late in the fourth quarter.
With a 4-8 record and virtually zero hope of making a playoff push, the Titans didn’t have much to play for. But, don’t tell the players and coaching staff that, as they played right to the final whistle and put together a comeback for the ages.
It resulted in a comeback for the ages. When Raheem Mostert ran in his second touchdown of the night, Miami took a 27-23 lead with 4:34 remaining. The Titans would quickly respond, moving down the field and scoring a touchdown with 2:40.
NFL News & Rumors: Derrick Henry, Will Levis, Mike Vrabel, Tennessee Titans Updates
Scoring ahead of the two-minute warning gave them another clock stoppage on top of their timeouts. Putting even more pressure on the Dolphins, the Titans opted to go for two and converted, making the score 27-21.
After forcing a three-and-out, Tennessee got the ball back with 2:14 and one timeout remaining. They wasted no time getting down the field, scoring a touchdown in four plays and 26 seconds, going 64 yards for the go-ahead and eventual game-winning score when Derrick Henry plunged into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game.
The Dolphins didn’t manage the clock well on their possession, gaining only 16 yards on six players before turning the ball over on downs when Tua Tagovailoa was sacked, giving the Titans their fifth win of the season.
How impressive of a comeback was this for Tennessee? According to StatMuse on X, formerly Twitter, teams who were trailing by 14 points in the last three minutes of a game were 0-767 since 2016. They are now 1-676 after Monday Night Football.
NFL News & Rumors: Derrick Henry, Will Levis, Mike Vrabel, Tennessee Titans Updates
According to ESPN Analytics, the Dolphins’ chances of winning the game were as high as 99.7 percent in the fourth quarter. That kind of late-game meltdown is unprecedented, evident by the fact no one has accomplished it in so many chances since 2016.
If the Titans can somehow sneak into the postseason, this is the game everyone will point to as what turned their season around. Defeating the AFC East-leading Miami Dolphins is quite an impressive feat; doing it in the fashion Tennessee did makes this an instant classic and one of the most memorable wins in franchise history.
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