The Titans 28-27 come-from-behind win over Miami on Monday Night Football sent shock waves through the NFL. How does a team starting a rookie quarterback on the road in Miami beat a Dolphins team that was a win from keeping pace with the Ravens at the top of the AFC standings?
The Titans hadn’t won on the road in more than a year and didn’t score a touchdown in Tampa, New Orleans or Cleveland this season. They scored two touchdowns in less than a minute and added a two-point conversion to pull the upset Monday.
“That was a huge opportunity for our football team to see us compete, to find ways to win the game as opposed to find ways to lose it,” Titans Head Coach Mike Vrabel said. “Try to eliminate some of the bad football, things that are going to get you beat. We stuck around and we were the ones that made plays in the critical situations.”
That has been the personality of the Titans under Vrabel, who started his career in Nashville with four consecutive winning seasons and back-to-back AFC South titles. Tennessee is always ready to play and never seems overwhelmed, which says a lot about the belief the Titans have in their head coach.
“If you can go out and you do it, that’s how you build confidence,” Vrabel said. “Whether that’s in practice or most importantly the game, you have to be able to see those things and have small victories.”
The Titans are likely to look different in 2024. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill is a free agent, running back Derrick Henry is in the final year of his deal and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is on an expiring contract. But for a night in Miami, these Titans looked like those Titans.
“It felt like the old Titans team,” linebacker Harold Landry said.