Epic Playoff Fail II: Ravens 13, Titans 10

My friend Chris Moore and I were able to get tickets to the Titans/Ravens playoff game here yesterday Nashville for a fairly reasonable price, and we were stoked. First, a little background. Multiple newspapers and local media outlets pointed out that the Titans were in an eerily similar situation before with the Ravens. Back in 2001, the Titans were among the favorites to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, and due to a great regular season, they hosted the Ravens in Nashville in Nashville for a playoff game they were expected to win. Everyone knew the Ravens defense was good, but unfortunately Eddie George so badly that he began to dive on the ground when Ray was in the area...also, there were unconfirmed reports that he wet himself. Costly Titans turnovers, a stagnant office, and special teams mistakes, combined with the Ravens making just enough plays on offense, led to a 24-10 Ravens victory. The Ravens won the Super Bowl that year, and that playoff loss began ushered the Titans into salary cap hell due to cap mismanagement, resulting in the loss of multiple good players in free agency and beginning their descent into several long, painful years of mediocrity.

The parallels were simply too strong to ignore, but Titans fans definitely tried. We told ourselves that we beat this same team during the regular season, that the Ravens hadn't had a week off since Week 2 (meaning that they were banged up and dead tired), that they had a rookie QB (Joe Flacco) untested under intense playoff pressure, that our physical defenses were basically a wash, and that our offense, led by QB Kerry Collins (who, unlike 2001 Titans QB Steve McNair, was actually a threat from time to time in the pass game), RBs Chris Johnson (a speed burner) and Lendale White (the physical runner), a duo that far exceeded Eddie George and his no name backups in terms of talent, and a much better offensive line.

The game started out very well, with our defense bottling up the Ravens running game, and Chris Johnson running wild over the Ravens defense, staking us to an early 7-0 lead. Then, the wheels started to come off, slowly at first, then one at a time, and everyone in the stadium saw it coming...it was just a matter of how things would end. First, due to a couple of fluke offensive plays by the Ravens which were aided by terrible weather, they were able to tie the game 7-7. Second, due to what I will believe until the day I die was a dirty play, Titans RB Chris Johnson got piled up by the Ravens D, and "somehow", his ankle got damn near twisted off his leg, leading to a high ankle sprain from which he would not return. Third, most importantly, and an unfortunate harbinger of things to come, the Titans made several back-breaking, game-changing mistakes. Kerry Collins threw an interception in the red zone, a drive stalled on 4th down just out of field goal range, K Rob Bironas missed a long field goal that he should have made with the wind at his back, Lendale White lost a fumble inside the Ravens 20 with less than 30 seconds to go before halftime. The Titans should have gone into halftime up by anywhere from 7 to as much as 20 points, but as it stood, the game was tied at 7 at halftime.

The second half was an absolute debacle, like one long horror story that unfolded over a couple of hours. With RB Chris Johnson out, the Titans offense was suddenly very ordinary and far less dynamic. The Ravens shut down Lendale White and basically tried to make Kerry Collins beat them. The teams traded field goals, and the Titans field goal was from only 27 yards after they could not convert a 3rd and short deep in Baltimore territory. With about 9 minutes left to go in the game, the Titans would make the final mistake that sealed their doom. While on yet another drive deep into Baltimore territory, QB Kerry Collins made a great pass under pressure to TE Alge Crumpler, who turned upfield and headed for the goal line. Having gotten to the 4 yard line, even if he had just laid on the ground and the Titans hadn't gained another yard, the Titans would have had a chance for a chip shot field goal to take the lead. Unfortunately, the 280 pound tight end suddenly thought he was an Olympic high jumper, tried to hurdle a defensive back, and fumbled the ball, leading to a Ravens recovery at their own 1 yard line. After that play, all the wind went out of the stadium, and all you could hear were the cheers of the Ravens fans. Later in the 4th quarter, Ravens rookie QB Joe Flacco led the Ravens on a long, time-consuming drive for what turned out to be the winning field goal. On that drive, he was aided by a costly officiating error. On the biggest 3rd down of the game (a 3rd and long at about midfield with less than 4 minutes to go), Flacco let the play clock expire, and TWO ADDITIONAL FULL SECONDS elapsed, which should have resulted in a delay of game penalty. However, the officials missed the call, and Flacco completed a long pass to TE Todd Heap, setting up the game-winning kick.

I have been a fan of the Tennessee Titans (professional) and the Tennessee Volunteers (college) football teams for a long time, but this loss was extremely painful for me as a football fan, maybe even the most painful ever. Every fan's worst nightmare is to faithfully follow their teams for years, only to die before ever seeing them win a Super Bowl. While I am a young man, I really and truly believe that this was the Titans' year to win a Super Bowl, but now, I am fairly certain that the Super Bowl window for this team is closed. They may still be a playoff team next year, BUT...they will likely have a tougher schedule next season because of their success this year, everyone will see RB Chris Johnson coming and prepare for him better, Kerry Collins (while far better than Vince Young) is unlikely to have as good as or a better year than he did this season, and there is no way they will start out the 2009 season 10-0 like they did this year, which allowed them to go 3-3 in their last 6 games and still enter the playoffs as the #1 seed with home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Given all of that background, this is the e-mail I sent to Bill Simmons, my favorite ESPN.com columnist (a.k.a, The Sports Guy) after watching the Titans melt down and lose 13-10 to the Baltimore Ravens at LP Field in Nashville on Saturday, January 10, 2009.

Dear Bill,

I never thought that a single football game would be enough to make me essentially walk away from being a football fan as I knew it...until yesterday.

I watched Kevin Dyson come up a yard short against the Rams in Super Bowl 34...I watched Eddie "Where Ray Ray At?" George and Al "Choke" Del Greco crap the bed against the Ravens in the playoffs in Nashville in 2001 in a situation eerily similar to this season...and then I watched the gut-wrenching defeat yesterday. The Titans had every possible advantage: first round bye, home field throughout the playoffs, a tired, beat up Ravens team whose bye was back in Week 2, a rookie QB on the other side, and Vince Young not at QB for the Titans. Simply put, if they couldn't win it all this year, it will NEVER happen.

When the Titans went to halftime tied 7-7 after outgaining the Ravens nearly 3-1, to quote your colleague Gregg Easterbrook, I wrote in my mental notebook "Game Over". From Kerry Collins tossing an INT inside the Ravens' 10 to our backup center yakking a snap at the worst possible time, to Lendale "Fat Eddie George, Jr." White coughing it up inside the Ravens' 20 before the half, to the back-breaking, game-ending fumble by Alge "I think I'm John Elway" Crumpler at the Ravens' 1 yard line...this was like "Hostel" (relentless, merciless torture with only the method of how it will end in question) meets "American History X" (with Stover's game-winning FG doubling as the infamous Edward Norton curb stomp putting the Titans' lights out). For Titans' fans this was definitely "The Game" (guillotine plus stomach punch), and it is the Webster's definition of what it means to be a Tennessee football fan.

And what of next year? I'm glad you asked! Albert Haynesworth signs an exorbitant free agent deal with a crappy team, Chris Johnson continues his descent to Chris Brown (not the R&B star, the oft-injured former Titans' RB cut by the Titans, signed by the Texans, and now out of football) territory, and worst of all, Bud Adams overrules Jeff Fisher and starts Vince "I'm the only starting NFL QB worse than Tarvaris Jackson" Young at QB, slamming the remaining 1-2 year Super Bowl window shut on a fine young defense, solid special teams, and great offensive line. I see a 6-10, last place divisional finish for the Titans in 2009, and I will now hang myself with my Titans' sweatshirt.

After this game, I will never spend another dime that could benefit the Titans...not a game ticket, not clothes, not even patronizing businesses that advertise on their radio broadcasts. Even if the Titans hosted a Super Bowl in Nashville, I would watch it on television even though I could probably afford a ticket. I just can't take it any more, I'm done. Titans, I wish I could say it was fun while it lasted, but then I would be lying...enjoy your descent back to mediocrity.

--Chris
Nashville, TN