Count them out against the New England Patriots or call them the ugliest team left in the NFL playoffs.
A franchise only two years removed from the NFL’s worst record over a two-season stretch cares only about winning.
”Our guys kind of like that role http://www.jaguarscheapstore.com/quincy-williams-ii-jersey-cheap ,” Titans coach Mike Mularkey said of being underdogs. ”Again, this is not a flashy team. It’s not sexy. It’s just a blue collar, come to work, see what happens when you do and see … everybody compete for 60 minutes, see what the outcome is going to come. … Don’t worry about predictors. That’s their job. We have a job to do.”
The Titans (10-7) went 5-27 between 2014 and 2015, costing Ken Whisenhunt his job after 23 games. Mularkey took over, and he’s now 21-21 after a stunning comeback for a 22-21 win at Kansas City in the wild-card round.
Now they will visit New England (13-3) on Saturday night for Tennessee’s first divisional playoff game since January 2009 and their first divisional road game since losing to the Patriots 17-14 in January 2004. They’ve already been installed as 13-point underdogs, though being at least an 8-point underdog at Kansas City and trailing 21-3 at halftime didn’t stop the Titans.
Pro Bowl defensive lineman Jurrell Casey said the Titans’ confidence never wavered as they tied for the second-largest comeback by a road team in the playoffs.
”Everybody was hungry and had the want to,” Casey said. ”When you have that, and look around the sideline and see it in their eyes, there’s no reason to panic. That’s what we’ve been doing all year long, and we’ll continue to do that.”
Actually, the Titans have been doing that for the past couple seasons under Mularkey. The Titans now are 7-1 since the start of the 2016 season in games decided by three or fewer points – best in the NFL.
Tight end Delanie Walker said they are comfortable when trailing, confident in their ability to rally.
”We fight to the end,” Walker said. ”We weren’t worried about it. We came in (at halftime) and we were like, `They haven’t done anything to stop us.’ We made some adjustments. We went back out there, moved the ball, scored some points and there you have it.”
Mularkey said being in close games is expected with how Tennessee attacks on offense with its run scheme. That’s what makes coordinator Dick LeBeau’s defense so crucial.
The Titans rallied against Kansas City with the defense holding the Chiefs to just 61 yards total offense and no points in the second half. On the other side Ryquell Armstead Jersey , the offense held the ball for more than 19 minutes, scored on four straight possessions and Derrick Henry had 85 of his career-high 156 yards rushing in the fourth quarter.
Marcus Mariota also notched the ninth game-winning drive of his career and fifth since the start of the 2017 season in beating Kansas City.
Mularkey said the mental toughness required to pull out so many close games is critical, especially on the road.
”We did a lot of good things in that game to give us a chance to win,” Mularkey said. ”Unfortunately, we had to do it late, but we did a lot of good things as a team I think will carry over as we go forward.”
General manager Jon Robinson, who got his start in the NFL with 12 seasons in New England starting as a scout, has been busy rebuilding this roster over the past two years. Cornerback Logan Ryan, who signed as a free agent last offseason after four seasons and two Super Bowl rings with the Patriots, said the Titans feature a bunch of players with nothing to lose.
”A bunch of guys who are underrated, undervalued, who came from different places, and who were trying to do something special. We believe that,” Ryan said.
Now the longshot Titans face their biggest test yet Saturday night in New England.
”We want more,” Walker said.
—
NEW YORK (AP) — Just as he had the true touch when he threw passes, set records and won two Super Bowls, Peyton Manning has the right approach when looking at some of the NFL’s greatest moments.ESPN, NFL Films and the league itself clearly felt that way.Manning http://www.jaguarscheapstore.com/gardner-minshew-ii-jersey-cheap , a lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible in 2021, is hosting and serving as an executive producer for “Peyton’s Places,” a five-part, 30-episode series celebrating the NFL’s 100th season. The show debuts on ESPNin July, with ESPN and ABC airing special compilations.For the quarterback, it was a labor of love, a journey into pro football’s past that was educational, humorous and heartfelt.“NFL Films has been great throughout this and they approached me about doing it to tell the story of the past 100 years,” Manning says. “They certainly had a template and blueprint they wanted to tell, and we had certain people we wanted to talk to and visit and have conversations about how football got started.”So Manning dived all the way back to Ralph Hay’s Hupmobile showroom in Canton, Ohio. He spent time with members of the undefeated 1972 Dolphins; rewatched Super Bowl 3 with Joe Namath; discussed the Immaculate Reception with Steelers and Raiders to get the Pittsburgh and Oakland viewpoints; and discovered intriguing connections to the NFL for Richard Nixon, Jay Leno and Elvis.“We got to go down memory lane,” Manning says. “I have always loved the history of the game and I have learned a lot during this journey, and spent some time with some of my favorite players and contemporaries of my dad (former Saints star quarterback Archie Manning) and guys he looked up to.“NFL Films has all this great archives of (Bears founder) George Halas talking about being in Ralph Hay’s Hupmobile showroom, (Giants owner) Wellington Mara talking about how Vince Lombardi wanted him to take Polaroids and throw them down to the field when Vince was coaching with the Giants. To maybe re-enact it or kind of tell that story, it’s kind of why I signed up for it.”Along the way, Manning channeled his inner comedian, as displayed in TV commercials and as host of “Saturday Night Live.”A big fan of Elvis Presley Nick Bosa Jersey , Manning visited Graceland and “may or may not” have dressed up in an Elvis costume. He did discover that Presley staged impromptu games at local parks and was such a die-hard NFL fan he had three television sets on hand so he could watch as much football as possible.“He got the idea from Lyndon Baines Johnson, who had three TVs so he could watch the news and political news coverage,” Manning explains.Manning and Cris Carter also tried to replicate a stunt the New York Giants performed at the O’Keeffe Radiator Building in Manhattan — now the American Radiator Building. In 1926, the Giants’ Lynn Bomar threw a ball to the ground from 324 feet up on the 23-story building, and Hinkey Haines caught it.“Back in the ’20s, the forward pass was like a circus act,” Manning says. “When you were in the red zone and threw a pass into the end zone and it was incomplete, the other team got the ball; that was news to me. Clearly, teams didn’t want to throw it.“But to get some buzz and interest with the team not drawing well, the Giants did this publicity stunt and had (Bomar) throw a pass off the building. So I threw a pass down to Cris Carter at the same spot and he caught it. It was pretty neat.”Also neat, no doubt, was having Manning service motorist’s cars at the Vince Lombardi Travel Plaza on the New Jersey Turnpike. Manning dressed up as an attendant and “would give them a lecture or seminar on Vince Lombardi” while they were gassing up. The customers were given $10 off their bill if they could correctly answer questions about Lombardi.Paying homage to one of the NFL’s great QBs, Sammy Baugh, who also played safety and was an All-Pro punter, Manning had Deion Sanders “try to teach me” to play defensive back. “That provided some challenges,” Manning says with a chuckle.He visited with Jay Leno, a renowned classic car collector, to discuss the Hupmobile Dwayne Haskins Jersey , an auto on which several future NFL franchise owners sat (on the running boards) “drinking prohibition beer” as the league was formed.“I hope people who love football will find it entertaining,” he says. “I certainly have not been afraid to make fun of myself.”The fun of the series is accompanied by a reverence for the history of his sport. Such highlights as sitting with Roger Staubach and watching the long pass to Drew Pearson that spawned the “Hail Mary” description of such plays. Or chatting with Jim Brown about his career — in football and lacrosse and acting. Or researching the role of Bert Bell, the league’s second commissioner who created the draft, scheduled games for Sundays — college football, more popular in the those days, owned Saturdays — and insisted on blackouts when television became a factor.“Bert Bell made a bad investment, putting his money in a pro football team, guys in leather helmets running into each other,” Manning says with a sarcastic laugh. “Bert Bell was a pioneer.”Bell and Nixon likely wouldn’t have gotten along. Nixon, as Manning discovered, was so annoyed he couldn’t watch the Redskins‘ home games from the White House during his 1969-74 administration that he asked NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle to lift the blackouts.“Rozelle refused, saying it would hurt attendance,” Manning says. “So, basically, Nixon got Congress to pass a law to end the blackouts. He called it one of the greatest achievements of his administration, and that shows you how important it was to people who wanted to watch their teams. And still is.”
