Titans' failed chances give Saints a win and a playoffs berth in Week 14 – NFL Recap
The New Orleans Saints have become the second team to make it to playoff this season after they beat their hosts Tennessee Titans 22-17 in another closely finished game on past Sunday.
Having failed to reach to end zone during first three quarters they finally were successful in getting a couple of touchdown passes to Marques Colston, from Drew Brees, to take the score 22 in final 15 minutes of the game.
"It was a gut-check win for us," New Orleans coach Sean Payton said. "A lot of things early on didn't go our way. We had some calls that could have gone either way. We just kept fighting and won a good game on the road against a good team."
At the end it was all to another superb performance by their Hall of Famer player Drew Brees to pull off the much needed victory for them. He managed to hold on to 36 out of total 47 passes putting up 337 yards in total.
The win has helped the Saints 10-3 to be also well in the race for the National Football Conference (NFC) south division title. They still have three more games to play.
This was the New Orleans' fifth straight win and the loss of their archrivals Chicago Bears to Denver Broncos has cleared their way for a playoff berth.
The Houston Texans from the American Football Conference (AFC) south division are the other team to have made it to playoffs, for the first time in their franchise history.
The tie was very crucial for the Titans to keep their hopes alive in the AFC north division race. They however ruined all their chances. The Titans 7-6 twice failed to finish twice despite having possession of the ball during final few minutes of the game. They could have easily inflicted a defeat over their visitors the Saints but did not capitalize on the opportunities.
Titans loss has enabled the Houston Texans to win the AFC south title. The loss has also made Titans chances for a playoff berth even more difficult.
"As bad as this one's going to hurt ... we can't let this one cost us anymore games," Titans coach Mike Munchak said. "We have three games; we have to win all three games."
They will have to win their next games to hope for making a place in playoff season.
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