Titanic Mishap

A couple of things have been eating at me about the Titans/Ravens game for days. I have heard all week about the delay of game that never was. I must confess I didn't see it when it happened because I was taking a friend to the airport at the time and the radio guys didn't mention it. The two things that did jump out to me at the time was how Chris Johnson was injured and the Titans' choice to kick it with a 4th and 1 on the Baltimore 10.

I'll start with the latter. Justin Gage caught a 9 yard pass that on the radio sounded like it was close to being a first down. The ball was spotted a yard short. Now you've been slugging it out with a team for 3 and a half quarters, you've had the upper hand in yards all day but you're behind by 3 because of some untimely turnovers. Bironas has already missed a field goal. The choices are:

1. Take the short field goal with a high probability of success which will tie the game and give the other team the ball with 4:17 left in the game. Baltimore hasn't had a ton of offensive success all game but they haven't coughed up the ball either. Your D has been slugging it out all game. You lead time of possession by almost 10 minutes. They will be kicking with the wind.
   
2. Go for it on 4th down. You have a line that has had success with short yardage runs throughout the season. You have one of the biggest backs in the league who specializes in running for short yardages. He has 1 fumble thus far in the game. Your All-Pro center is out with an injury and his backup has been shaky (multiple shotgun snaps before the QB was ready). Baltimore has one of the most physical lines in the league.

Taking all the factors into account I believe (and believed at the time when I listened on the radio) that you have to go for it. You're trusting your O line to do what they've done all year, get 1 yard to save the season. It would be first and goal from the 9 yard line, max. Even if you run it a few more times and don't score, you give the Ravens (and rookie QB, Joe Flacco) significantly less time to score. Kerry Collins was solid all game, trust him not to turn it over. I think that taking the 3 points and kicking to the Ravens is saying that you don't trust your O to gain one yard and you are willing to roll the dice that whatever lucky bounce ends up coming your way. Do you really want to prolong a game like that when you're playing against a physical team like Baltimore's with a tired and bruised up D? As I listened to Bironas take the field goal I had a feeling that decision would come back to bite them in the end and it did. Baltimore put a good drive together and Stover put one through the uprights to end the Titans season.

I though the Chris Johnson injury was a bogus play by a guy I actually respect a lot, Ed Reed. I don't necessarily think it was a dirty play but watching it live, you can see that Johnson was on his way to the ground with his legs already wrapped up. Reed grabs his upper body and starts pulling him up, torquing his body back over his legs. Meanwhile, the lower half of his body was being driven the other way.

I'm not a Titans fan but I was incensed while watching this. I was upset that the announcers said nothing of it and I haven't heard anything about this all week, even though everybody seems to agree that the Titans win that game if Johnson stays in the game. I've been impressed with Johnson ever since I saw him play in East Carolina's bowl game last year against Boise State. He was a maniac with the ball and helped them pull off the upset against America's favorite small conference team. He then follows that up by tying the fastest 40 time ever at the NFL combine, a blazing 4.24. He has a chance to become one of the best running backs the league has seen so it's tough to watch him get bent backwards by 4 defenders. If he were a QB, a flag would have been thrown for sure and maybe Ed Reed is fined.

The NFL needs to look into ways to protect players from this because I've seen it happen quite a bit, just never like this. It's too bad it may have cost the Titans a happy ending to a great season. The injury sounds like a high ankle sprain. I'm glad it was just that because it could have been worse and looked that way.

-PSon