Patreon: Titans Rewind: 8/23/12, vs. Cardinals

Welcome in to the Titans Rewind here on the SoBros Patreon! Today, we're reliving the Titans-Cards game from 8/23/12

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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!

8/23/12: Cardinals @ Titans

Pour one out for the preseason, y’all. I don’t know about you guys, but one of my favorite annual traditions for as long as I’ve made my own money and didn’t have to beg my parents for money to do stuff is to grab preseason Titans tickets, and go get absolutely sloshed in the hot summer heat. 

To be fair, some people do this during ALL of the Titans games, but since I write about the team, I usually try to stay at least somewhat coherent so that I can write a recap and remember the storylines from each game. So, the preseason is my time to shine. That’s why I elected to talk about this game at this time of year. 

I felt like I might have been the only person on Earth who was pretty sad to see the preseason go, but that was for this exact reason. Everyone else was just kinda like, “meh – whatever.” But, not me.

There aren’t a whole lot of notable preseason games, but diehard Titans fans will remember this one if you bring it up. Why? Because this is the game that Marc Mariani graphically broke his leg on the field during. I was there, in attendance, with my now-fiance, good and beered up. We were sitting on the exact side of the field that the incident happened on – in the first section above field level. So, we were close enough that I nearly threw up Coors Light when it happened. It was terrifying, and I’ve never been in a stadium that fell so silent. Everyone was worried about Mariani. 

Per ESPN

Replays showed Mariani’s leg snapping near the calf as he went to the ground at the end of 14-yard return with 9:40 left in the first quarter. He remained on the ground for several minutes as a team doctor put an air cast around his lower leg. A few teammates came by to talk with him, and Mariani waved at fans as the cart left the field. 

Thankfully, broken leg aside, Mariani was okay and made a full recovery. But, he was definitely one of the special young return men in the NFL at the time, even making the Pro Bowl in 2010 as a returner. I can’t help but wonder what could’ve been if not for this gruesome injury.  Mariani was a stud.  

Videos of the incident may exist somewhere on the internet, but I ain’t lookin’ ’em up.

Nowadays, he’s in real estate, and pops up from time to time on some of the local sports talk radio shows in Nashville. 

All in all, that 2012 season was a forgettable one – the Titans went 6-10, the defense was the worst in the league in terms of points allowed per game. This was during the era of Titans defense when the big play could gash that unit. If you had a special play-maker at receiver or tight end, you were going to ball out on this Titans defense. They were 26th in total offense, Jake Locker was the leading passer, Nate Washington was the leading receiver with 746 yards. 

At no point during the season did the Titans have a winning record. The closest to being a contender was the 3-4 start. The bottom wouldn’t truly fall out until Ken Whisenhunt came to town and we endured those 2014 and 2015 seasons, but this was still pretty uninspired football to watch. How this mediocre vanilla football team won six games is beyond me.

At least this was still prime CJ2K, as Chris Johnson led the team in rushing with 1,243 yards. And, there happened to also be an offensive assistant by the name of Arthur Smith on the staff as well. Interesting time to look back on, but there’s no doubt it’s better to be a Titans fan now than back in those early 2010s. 

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

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