Patreon: Titans Rewind: 12/25/09, vs. Chargers

Stoney Keeley takes a trip down Memory Lane on this holiday edition of the Titans Rewind!

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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!

Titans Rewind: 12/25/09, vs. Chargers

We’ve got a special Christmas edition of the Titans Rewind on deck today. Since we’re only a week out from the big day at this point, I figured it would be an opportune time to take a trip down Memory Lane to the last time (and the only time that I can recall) the Tennessee Titans played on Christmas day. 

It was near the conclusion of the 2009 season – the Titans were hosting the San Diego Chargers during the height of the LaDainian Tomlinson era. For all the talk about the Jags, the Texans, the Colts, the Ravens, and the Steelers, people sleep on just how deep that Chargers rivalry cuts. If you think through it, all those years that the Chargers owned the Titans, even when the Titans were good, it’s almost felt like more of a curse than a rivalry. Despite getting the better of them on a fluky play in 2019, I still cringe when I hear the word ‘Chargers.’ 2009 was also peak ‘Chargers curse’ era for the Titans too, as this game would go on to prove. 

That 2009 team was incredibly frustrating to watch, too. Just a year after fielding one of the greatest Titans teams of all time – the 13-3 ’08 squad that was a legit Super Bowl contender before being bounced in the divisional round by the Ravens – they got off to an 0-6 start. ZERO WINS. SIX LOSSES. Talk about disappointing expectations. But, they eventually got things right and went on a 7-1 run to get to this Chargers game. The Chargers were 11-3 heading into it, looking to clinch a first round bye in the AFC playoffs. 

I was hopeful – I had been out to Smithville, Tennessee to visit my family for Christmas. I was heading home, optimistic that CJ would run wild and the Titans would pull the upset and keep those playoff hopes alive. 

But, if you remember that game, holy shit – that is NOT what happened at all. The Chargers absolutely poured it on the Titans. The Chargers put a whopping 425 yards of offense up on the Titans, and you have to remember – you could still play defense in this era of the NFL. It was shocking – all of the Chargers playmakers just had their way with the Titans defense. LT had two touchdowns. Darren Sproles had THREE touchdowns. Antonio Gates caught a touchdown. Philip Rivers threw a couple of touchdowns. It was a blood bath. The Chargers would eventually win that game 42-17 – national television, Christmas night, and the Titans just completely shit the bed. It clinched a first round bye for that Chargers team, and it effectively put the 2009 Tennessee Titans in the damn ground.

Thank goodness we had plenty of Wild Turkey on hand to get through it.

The Titans dropped to 7-8 in this game, but wrapped up the season at 8-8 after heading to Seattle and beating the Seahawks the following week. Despite the flip-flopping between Kerry Collins and Vince Young (yeah, 2009 was THAT season) that would eventually undo the relationship between Jeff Fisher and the Titans, and despite the fact that this team dramatically underperformed, there was still a silver lining – that season would see Chris Johnson transcribe his name into the NFL history books forever. That’s right – 2009, despite all its frustration, was the birth of “CJ2K” – Johnson’s famous 2,000-yard season.

The next Christmas day game can’t come soon enough for the Titans – we gotta get a win to associate with the holiday. It can’t be that Chargers game forever! 

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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