Tennessee Titans pull off hard-fought win against Detroit Lions – NFL Recap
The Tennessee Titans have finally recorded first win of the season by defeating the visiting Detroit Lions 44-41 on Sunday (September 23) in a tightly fought game which kept on twisting in favour of both sides during the regulation to finish in overtime.
First, the Titans had the defining lead of 20-9 in the first half but blew it to send the game in favour of the Lions to be in the lead again. The Lions were able to square the points and the game went to overtime with the Titans finally coming out victorious.
Titans quarterback Jake Locker was seen in some rhythm and managed to complete 29 out 42 passes putting up 378 yards which also helped the Titans to be the first team in the National Football League (NFL) to score five touchdowns for 60 yards or more in
a game.
At one point the team was struggling in the second half which alone witnessed 46 points scored. Both teams took thumbing leads to lose to each other in quick succession.
Even coaches were baffled kept posing questioning looks at each other where the game was heading to.
Coach Mike Munchak, who was pleased to see the Titans possessing an edge over the opposition, said of the situation:
"Both of us looked at each other and said, `We've never been through something like this in our lives. It's hard to put in words what to say about that. We both could've won in so many ways."
Lions coach Jim Schwartz, who is Munchak’s former colleague from Nashville, said:
"The crowd was loud. If they didn't jump, we were just going to take the timeout. The ball ended up getting snapped. We needed that, obviously, to make sure all 11 guys get the calls right there and be able to play it."
It was down on the 26-yard field goal from kicker Rob Bironas in overtime that helped the Titans pull off the 44-41 win over the visitors. The Titans’ cause was also helped by the stop of Lions’ backup quarterback Shaun Hill in a completely confused situation
which the Lions’ coach labelled as an act of miscommunication.
The coach said:
"Obviously, there was a miscommunication, or I don't know what you call it, from an enforcement standpoint."
It was again another disaster as far as officiating of the game was concerned. The replacement refs were under fire of shouting and screams of the coaches as they have been in all other games.
The result was nevertheless a welcome development for the Titans on the league’s standing chart as the victory has helped them tie with Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts with one win each in the American Football Conference (AFC) South division
which is led by reigning division champions Houston Texans.
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