NJLMFL- CLASH OF THE TITANS- TITANS 32 JETS 29 OVERTIME (classic photos must see)

[dogwood30]

LAST NIGHT IN THE NJLMFL- AFC QUARTER FINALS

Tennessee Titans at New York Jets

RECAP- Last night the Jets and the Titans played one of the all-time classic games in my league’s history. An instant classic. It had everything. Big plays, key turnovers, a goat turned hero, overtime and drama, drama, drama. The Jets knew they had to play a perfect game to win. They played a near perfect game. This is one for the ages that must be reported quarter by quarter.

THE CLASH OF THE TITANS

1ST QTR- This game began like the gun beginning a track meet. The Jets got the opening kickoff at their own 40. On second and 10 Joe Namath hit TE Mickey Shuler on a simple 10 yard out pass. Shuler avoided the first tackler then turned near the sideline and rambled for a 60 yard TD to give NY the early lead. Pass the baton to the Titans. They started on their own 38 and RB Chris Johnson gained 2 yards to the 40 . Them BOOM Eddie George rammed through the Jets line on the next play and he went 60 yards for a TD to tie the game. Pass the baton back to the Jets. On the following kickoff Bruce Harper took the kick on his own 10 and raced 90 yards to the Tennesse goal line and it was ruled a TD. I had to go to the video replay to make sure he crossed the goal line before going out of bounds. So I took a photo which you will see later and it confirmed that Harper did cross the line for the TD. 14-7 Jets with 8:44 still remaining in the 1st QTR. Baton back to Tennessee. The Titans took the ball from their own 38 and drove the ball down field but Vince Young threw a poor ball that NY DB Darelle Revis picked off at his own 8 and returned it to the 13 to kill the Titans drive. Quarter ended Jets 14 Titans 7.

2nd QTR- The Jets took the ball at their own 13 and pretty much mirrored the Titans previous drive by driving it all the way into Titans territory but a 3rd down Namath pass was intercepted by Blaine Bishop at the 10 and returned it 9 yards to the TEN 19 killing the Jets drive. Then came the turnover shower. On a 3rd down play Young dropped back to throw and was sacked by the Jets Marvin Lewis and he fumbled. Jets DT John Abraham recovered on the Titans 29. On the next play Joe Namath gave the ball right back to the Titans when a batted pass at the line ended up in the hands of Kyle Vanden Bosch and Tennessee had the ball back on their 30. The Titans were out of timeouts and inside the 2:00 warning when Young found Justin Gage deep in Jets territory and he got out of bounds at the Jets 7 with :03 left. Rick Birones began his interesting day with a 24 yd FG to make it 14-10 at the half.

3rd QTR- The Jets opened the second half knowing they had to stop the Titans power running game to win and did a pretty good job in the first half. The Jets 2 missed opportunities deep in Titans territory which yielded no points put the Jets defense in a tough spot. Tennessee ‘s first drive found the going to their running game and moved the ball to midfield. Eddie George erupted again and ran the ball all the way to the Jets 2. After the Jets D held for 2 plays George powered one in from the 2 to give the Titans their first lead at 16-10. The score stayed that way when Birones kicked low and the Jets blocked the extra point with 9:59 left in the third. The Titans found the first half baton and handed it back to the Jets. Harper returned the kick to the Jets 48. On first down Namath dropped back to pass then gave the ball on a perfectly run draw play to Freeman McNeill and he was gone. 52 yards to put the Jets back ahead 21-16. The Titan lead lasted just 34 seconds. After a touchback the Titans began running again but the Jets were letting up the big play as Tennessee slowly moved the ball to their own 46. On the last play of the quarter lightning struck in the form of Chris Johnson as he sprinted 42 yards to the Jets 12.

4th QTR- The 4th quarter opened with Johnson capping off the drive 3 plays later on a 2 yd TD run. This time Birones made the extra point giving Tennessee the lead back 23-21.The Jets took over on their own 19 and made a first down. On the next play Namath dropped back to throw and was again sacked this time by Vanden Bosch and the ball came loose. Andre Dyson recovered on the Jets 20. Fourth turnover for the Jets. The Titans took their time getting small chunks of yards to work the clock. When Eddie George scored his 3rd TD on an 8 yd run it seemed that the Titans would put the game away. The inconsistent kicker Rick Birones pushed the kick to the right and missed the extra point that would have put Tennessee up by 9 pts. Instead it was 29-21 and the Jets still had a chance. Namath started from his own 20 with just under 8 minutes to go. The Jets used short passes to move up the field and let the clock run. They wanted this to be the last drive and had to keep the ball away from the Titans offense. The Jets drive reached the Titans 37 at the 2:00 warning with Namath completing critical 3rd down passes in route. A pass to Al Toon got the ball to the 19 and the Jets let the clock run. On the next play Namath had to scramble and he got the ball to the Titans 16. Two incomplete passes followed and the clock was down to just :18. On third down Namath found Shuler on a corner route and the TE began to turn for the sideline but was able to barely cross the goal line with :07 left to make it 29-27. The Jets had to go for 2. The game hinged on the next play. Namath took a short drop and Jerome Kearse was bearing down on Broadway Joe. At the last second Wesley Walker broke open and Namath with his historical quick release snapped off a strike to Walker to tie the game. There was pandemonium in the stadium. Kicker Nick Lowrey sent the kick through the endzone giving Tennessee one last play. Young could only hit Gage for a short gain and time ran out sending this epic battle to overtime.

OVERTIME- The Jets faithful went nuts when the Jets won the coin toss to get the ball first I the overtime. Sudden Death or as some say Sudden victory. Good coverage by the Titans on the kickoff had the Jets start from their own 23. Next came the defense. The Jets went 3 and out and had to punt and sent Tennessee back to their own 32. The Titans got 1 first down to their own 45 then went 3 and out and punted the ball back to New York. A touchback put the Jets on their own 20. On first down Walker broke free on a Tennessee blitz. Namath fired for the speedy Walker but Tennessee DB Samari Rolle darted in front of Wakler and intercepted the wobbly pass at the 34 and took it all the way to the Jets 20. Bringing in Birones right away was not an option after 2 missed extra points. Johnson and George ran 2 plays for a first down at the Jets 8. The Jets defense then came to life stopping George twice for no gain the Johnson for a 2yd loss back to the 10. Jeff fisher had no choice but to send Birones out to attempt a 27 yard field goal. He instructed his field goal team to go on a quick snap count before the Jets could freeze the erratic kicker. Birones went from goat to hero in 27 long yards. As the ball settled into the net the sun set on the Jets season in one of the greates game ever played in the NJLMFL

SCORING TURNOVERS – TEN-2…NYJ- 4

TITANS 7 3 6 13 3 32
JETS 14 0 7 8 0 29

1ST QTR.
NY- Shuler 60 yd pass from Namath (Lowrey kick)……………….7-0. 12:49
TEN- George 60 yd run (Birones kick)……………………………..7-7 9:32
NY- Harper 90 yd kickoff return (Lowrey kick)…………………14-7 8:44

2nd QTR
TEN- Birones 24 yd FG………………………………………… …14-10 :00

3rd QTR
TEN- George 2 yd run (kick blocked)……………………………...16-10 9:59
NY- McNeill 52 yd run (Lowrey kick)……………………………..21-16 9:25

4th QTR
TEN- Johnson 2 yd run (Birones kick)……………………………...23-21 14:47
TEN- George 8 yd run ( kick missed)……………………………….29-21
NY- Shuler 16 yd pass from Namath (Namath to Walker 2 pts)……29-29

OT
TEN- Birones 27 yd FG………………………………………… ……32-29 7:43

INT- TEN- Bishop, Vanden Bosch, Rolle, NY- Revis

Photos- Camera went dead in 3rd quarter
1. Shuler 60 yd TD
2. George 60 yd run
3. Video review on Harper’s TD
4. Jets huddle up
5. NFL FILMS SHOT- George 2 yd run
6. McNeill outraces Titans D for TD