Welcome in to the Titans Rewind here on the SoBros Patreon! Here, I’ll be reliving some of my favorite or most memorable Tennessee Titans games over the course of my fanhood. Highs, lows, and everything in between – Titan up!
12/9/07: Chargers @ Titans
The resident film critic of SoBros Network, Brandon Vick, and I attended this game live. Back in those days, we had a tradition of going to at least one Titans game a season, and we wanted to make sure we got the chance to see LaDainian Tomlinson live and in person at least one time. Little did we know that LT would end up doing what LT did frequently throughout his career.
That 2007 Titans team was one of promise. It was the 2nd year of the Vince Young era…one that all of us, at the time, thought was going to return the Titans franchise to its status as a perennial Super Bowl contender. After winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year award in 2006, Young and veteran Kerry Collins (filling in for an injured VY) helmed the Titans to a 6-2 start. It looked like the Titans were going to be the contenders we thought they would.
But, a three-game skid dropped them to 6-5. After beating the Houston Texans, they drew the San Diego Chargers in a game that pitted two teams that desperately needed the win to keep pace in the AFC. The Chargers were trying to pull away from the Denver Broncos in the race for the AFC West. Meanwhile, the Titans were just trying to fend off the Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Wild Card race.
What ensued was a downright heavyweight fight. I mean, it felt like dudes were going down left and right with injuries. Just one of those physical, hard-hitting affairs.
It was a gutsy performance from Philip Rivers, who was sacked FOUR times. He about knocked his knee out of his damn leg, too. He had to come back into the game, after throwing two interceptions, with a knee brace on just to finish the game. But, he did just that. The Titans were unable to run out the clock on the Chargers, despite having the 17-10 lead late in the 4th quarter. So, with just over two minutes left in the game, Rivers orchestrated a brilliant 91-yard drive that concluded with a touchdown to Antonio Gates and a tied ball game.
Not without some controversy, though – every good, memorable game has a little bit of that, right? Chris Chambers caught a 20-yard pass on a crucial 4th and 5 that the Titans thought hit the turf….after review, the catch was upheld and the rest is history. But, it’s crazy to think about how close the Titans were to winning this game and improving to 8-5.
Instead, we went to overtime. Free football for the fans in attendance! Though Brandon and I were freezing our asses off, we couldn’t believe the quality of the game we were witnessing. The mood at what was named ‘LP Field’ at the time was nervous and anxious…except for where we were sitting. We were just a section over from the visiting team’s section – those Chargers fans were getting rowdy. I even saw a sign that said ‘LT Field’ on it. Man, it’s hard to argue that it wasn’t on that day.
The Chargers got the ball to start overtime, and when the Titans forced them to punt, Titans fans began to grow optimistic. All it took was a score to win the game, and they had just stopped a Chargers offense that had all of the momentum. So, how did the Titans respond?
Run, run, pass – the story of the Jeff Fisher era. The Titans were pinned deep, but they made two efforts to get out of it, and then VY threw an incompletion. I remember 2006-07 as the time that rumblings started to come out among the fan base that maybe Fisher’s style wasn’t the most suitable for the contemporary NFL. Looking back now, I definitely think that Fisher, at the very least, had no idea how to properly use VY. So, both offenses come up short on their opening drives in overtime.
That gave the Chargers another shot, and that’s when LT did what LT did best – slashed the hopes and dreams of his opponents. The Chargers ran six plays on that drive – four of them were LT runs, and the last one happened to go for 16 yards and a touchdown. Ball game – the Chargers won 23-17. Despite being on the losing end of it, it was one of the most memorable games of that season. And, it also furthered that theory that the Chargers had some sort of voodoo over the Titans – for whatever reason, for so long, this franchise has had to deal with “the Chargers curse.”
LT finished with 26 carries for 146 yards and a touchdown, with five catches for 27 yards and an additional receiving touchdown. The dude was truly one of the most special running backs in NFL history, and Brandon and I got to see it in person.
The Titans would end up qualifying for one of the wild card spots because of the Colts resting everyone in the final week of the season, edging out the understandably pissed Cleveland Browns, who boasted an identical 10-6 record to the Titans, but didn’t get the benefit of playing back-ups in the final week of the season.
The Chargers won the AFC West and finished the season 11-5. Tons of hypotheticals, but man the postseason would’ve looked a lot different had the Titans won that home game on 12/9/07. Oddly enough, when both teams qualified for the playoffs, it fell so that the Titans would visit San Diego in the wild card round, where the Chargers beat ’em again, 17-6. Those Chargers made a run all the way to the AFC Championship before losing to the undefeated Patriots.
A couple of fun notes from that 12/9 game, though, before I let you guys go…
*When Rivers had to come out of the game because of his knee, the Chargers put in Billy Volek, who had longtime been the beloved back-up in Nashville before heading out to San Diego. The Titans sacked him once, and intercepted him.
*LenDale White was the workhorse in this game. He had 30 carries for 113 yards and a touchdown. A season later, the Titans would draft Chris Johnson, putting together the legendary ‘Smash and Dash’ back field.
This was the rookie season of safety Michael Griffin. I was all about that dude back in 2007 – he looked like the future of the position. To this day, I think he’s one of the more underrated defensive players in Titans history. But, at one point late in the game, I look at Brandon and say, “come on, Mike Griffin – get us an interception for Christmas.” We’re crossing our fingers, and lo and behold, the VERY NEXT PLAY, Griffin hauls in an interception. I’ll never forget that.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
Check out the SoBros Shop. Become a Patron. Give us money for no reason. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Watch on YouTube.
