TITANS RALLY TO BEAT DOLPHINS 31-24 WILL GO TO SUPER BOWL FOR FIRST TIME

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TODAY IN THE NJMFL- AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

TENNESSEE TITANS AT MIAMI DOLPHINS......SUN LIFE STADIUM

RECAP

The Tennessee Titans earned their first trip to the Super Bowl in franchise history with a 31-24 comeback win over the Miami Dolphins. In a game where both teams were evenly matched the Titans won with some big plays in the 4th quarter.

1st QTR- Tennessee took the opening kickoff and got as far as the Miami 42. Dolphins Bob Baumhower sacked Vince Young at the 48 and the Titans punted to the Miami 11. Marino ran Csonka and Mercury Morris and were able to get to their own 48 before the drive stalled. Reggie Roby punted to the tennessee 4 where Pacman Jones returned it 40 yards to the Titans 44 ending a scoreless first Quarter.

2nd QTR- After Eddie George lost a yard Young attempted a screen pass to Chris Johnson but Miami's AJ Duhe intercepted and returned it to the Tennessee 14 where George made a TD saving tackle. On 1st down Larry Csonka ran off left tackle 14 yards to give Miami the lead 7-0. Pacman Jones returned the kick to the Titans 45. After a 2yard run by Johnson to the 47 Eddie George broke through the Dolphins line and raced for a 53 yd touchdown to tie things up at 7. Miami's Fulton Walker returned the kickoff to the Tennessee 36 nearly going all the way. It took Miami 4 plays to get to the Titans 12 highlighted by a 20 yard screen pass from Marino to Morris. The speedy Morris scored on the next play a 12 yd run and Miami regained the lead 14-7 with 6:29 left in the half. Tennessee began from their own 44 after another good return by Jones. On 3rd and 2 Young found Eddie george in the flat and he ran 34yds to the Miami 14 at the 2:00 warning. The Titans drive stalled and Rick Birones booted a 30 yd FG to make it 14-10 with 1:11 left to halftime. Miami got the ball to the Tennessee 45 but Marino was picked off by Kearse at the Titans 40. Tennessee ran out the clock and it was 14-10 miami at the half.

3rd QTR- Birones opened the second half by kicking the ball out of bounds and Miami got the ball at midfield. On their first play of the second half Miami's Mercury Morris burst through the Titans line and darted 50 yds for a TD giving Miami their biggest lead of the game 21-10. Another great return by Pacman Jones got the ball to the Tennessee 48. On first down Vince young rolled left and found Chris Johnson out of the backfield and he sped 45 yds before going out of bounds at the Miami 7. One play later George ran it in from 7 yards to make it 21-17. Miami started their next drive at their own 38. Miami ran an 8 play drive down to the the Titans 27 before they were stopped and Garo Yepremian kicked a 44 yd FG to extend Miami's lead to 24-17. Miami finally was able to cover the kickoff and Tennessee started at their own 25. After two plays got the Titans out to their own 39 the quarter ended with Miami leading 24-17.

4th Qtr- The 4th quarter opened poorly for Tennessee when Vince Young scrambled for 3 yards but was stripped by AJ Duhe and recovered by Jake Scott at the Tennessee 34. It looked like Miami was about to close in for the kill. This is where the game changed in favor of Tennessee. Morris and Csonka gained 2 yards apiece down to the Tennessee 30. On 3rd down Marino hit Morris on a screen but was tackled by Albert Haynesworth for a 3 yard loss. Yepremian was sent in to attempt a 50 yd FG. Yepremian made the kick but Miami went offside had to move back 5 yards to the Titans 38. This took Miami out of field goal range. Disaster struck when the ball was snapped over punter Reggie Roby's head and recovered by Tennessee at the Miami 34. What a turnaround because on the Titans first play Eddie George ran 34 yards for the game tying TD with 10:12 left in the game. Instead of a 27-17 Miami lead the game was suddenly tied at 24. Miami's imploading continued when they were flagged for holding on the kick return an had to start at their own 10. Morris was stopped for no gain on first down. Marino attempted a sideline pass to Mark clayton at the 30 but Tennessee DB Aaron Glenn stepped in front of Clayton and intercepted the pass and returned it to the Miami 22 with 8:18 left. Tennessee ran Johnson for 9 yards to the Miami 13 and followed with an Eddie George 1st down run to the Dolphins 7. Johnson then ran it down to the 3. Eddie George capped off the 4 play drive with his 4th TD run of the game giving Tennessee their first lead of the game 31-24 with 5:42 left. Miami took over on their own 42 with all of their timeouts remaining. The Dolphins 5 plays and picked up two first downs down to the Tennessee 36 at the 2:00 warning using up 2 timeouts as they went. Marino then fired a bullett to Clayton who went out of bounds at the Titans 22. On the next play Clayton ran a post pattern and Marino fired but was picked off by the Titans Samari Rolle who returned it to the Tennessee 12. The Titans were able to run out the clock and win their first AFC Title and a trip to Super Bowl 49.

SUMMARY

Tennessee 0-10-7-14...31
Miami 0-14-10-0...24

TEN. MIAMI

Turnovers 2 4
1st Downs 4 8
Rushing 169 156
Passing 93 72
Total Yds. 262 228

TEN
George 10-121-4TD's
Johnson 9-48
Young 3 for 8 93 yds 0 TD 1 INT

MIA
Csonka 9-35 1 TD
Morris 13-121- 2TD's
Marino 5 for 12 72 0 td 4 INT

1st QTR

No Scoring

2nd QTR

MIA- Csonka 14 yd run (Yepremian kick).......................7-0 14:18
TEN- George 53 yd run (Birones kick)...........................7-7 11:52
MIA- Morris 12 yd run (Yepremian kick)........................14-7 6:29
TEN- Birones 30 yd FG..............................................14 -10 1:11

3rd QTR

MIA- Morris 50 yd run (Yepremian kick)........................21-10 14:33
TEN- George 7 yd run.( Birones kick)...........................21-17 12:09
MIA- Yepremian 44 yd FG..........................................24-17 2:41

4th QTR

TEN- George 34 yd run (Birones kick)...........................24-24 10:12
TEN- George 3 yd run (Birones kick) 31-24 3:42

Photos
1. Dolphins warm up
2. Chris Johnson nice run
3. Csonka 14 yd TD
4. George 53 yd TD
5. Walker(22) 55 yd kickoff return
6. Morris 50 yd TD
7. CJ pass play to Miami 7
8. George follows CJ block for TD
9. George ties the game
10. TIE GAME
11. George scores go ahead TD
12. Titans celebrate 1st AFC Championship