独家优惠奖金 100% 高达 1 BTC + 180 免费旋转

Fuck.

A fan written retrospective on the Tennessee Titan’s 2019 Season and how it led to the end of the New England Patriots’ dynasty

By Zach T. Busby

January 4th, 2020- 11:47pm

I lay in bed watching the NFL Network talk at nauseam about if and where Tom Brady will play next season. Will he retire? Will he put on another uniform?

Before they run out of pointless rhetorical questions they manage to sneak in a 20 second segment showing Logan Ryan speaking on how he dropped an easy pick 6, only to end the Patriots’ season with an even easier pick 6.

And then?

Well it’s back to the Patriots and where Josh McDaniels will be coaching next season. Will the Patriots reset and implement a new offensive philosophy?

While this is happening, Twitter is being polluted with videos of ungrateful Patriots’ fans burning Brady jerseys, saying the greatest Quarterback of all time is just a system quarterback and Bill Belichick can do it all without him.

Before I close the app, I do manage to see a Rich Eisen tweet where he shows some love to Brett Kern, the Titan’s All-Pro Punter.

20 years of being a Titans fan, and the night after we do it- we slay the dragon, we do the unthinkable- we are the dynasty killers… and yet, the Tennessee Titans are still (at best) an afterthought.

It’s par for the course, and I’m almost numb to it… but that goes away, and I let myself feel what happened.

I smile and turn off my tv because I know something that the National Media is willfully ignoring: the NFL is finally different after 20 long years — and my team is the team that finally changed it for good.

The 2019 Tennessee Titans

Early on…

Titans - 43 Browns -13

Marcus Mariota has quieted a lot of doubters after Week One’s dismantling of the “Offseason Super Bowl” winning Cleveland Browns. He did his part in the offseason and put on some weight, he looks sturdy. For the first time in his career he has a real offensive coordinator.

I mean, at the very least he is the first one Marcus has had who truly knows how to use him (except Whisenhunt for one game and one game only). We won’t miss Matt LaFelur, but he will miss the playoffs- and I will love it.

This AJ Brown guy is a freak of nature, what a steal in the second round! It took guts to draft him over DK Metcalf, but it looks like we got the better Ole Miss wideout.

Derrick Henry’s late season explosion has really carried over from last season. That screen pass he took to the house was a warning to the league; he doesn’t need an Eddie George pep talk this season, December started early.

Cam Wake found the fountain of youth while making his 2.5 sacks look easy and I don’t see him slowing down anytime soon- he looks so fresh!

Coach Vrabel looks like the answer and we are finally out of the deep and lonely forest of milquetoast personalities on the sidelines. No more 9–7 bullshit!

Delanie is back and healthy and is showing no signs of age. Jonnu was a fun story last season, but Delanie is the main passing weapon for this team and that’s not changing anytime soon.

Cairo Santos is automatic, and we might not even need Ryan Succop to come off the IR.

13–3 would be a disappointment. We are definitely getting a Bye- and the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars are both going 0–16.

Andrew Luck abruptly retired left the Colts’ fate in the hands of Jacoby Brissett: I’ll take that bet

This year.

This division.

They both belong to the the Titans.

No more than 10 days later…

Titans- 17 Colts- 19

Titans- 7 Jags- 20

Well, that’s the division.

Santos kicked his way off this team and Succop can’t come back soon enough. We lost to Indy by 2? With Brisset? In Tennessee? And you can forget Jacksonville going 0–16 because they found some no-name mustached magician to save their team because of fucking course they did. Houston won 2 after losing their first, if they keep this rate up? That’s 10–6 and they win the south again.

And what happened to Marcus?

This offense is broken because Art Smith is just a billionaire’s son and I’m sure Amy Strunk is making some money off the books to recoup from firing Mularkey before his contract was up.

Speaking of Mularkey.. we fired him for this guy? Vrabel? He’s all mustache and no magic.

Even the commentators have nothing interesting to say about him. They just mention how he caught 12 touchdowns even though he was a linebacker. Isn’t that crazy? And did you know he used to play for Belichick? That means he is a genius.

And “Hey! Jon Robinson! Are you going to sit there and act like it’s okay you drafted AJ Brown over DK Metcalf? You keep whiffing on receivers man. I guess this team will never have a superstar receiver.”

But you know what, there’s gotta be some silver lining.

Derrick Henry looks good still, I mean he hasn’t cracked 100 rushing yards yet and won’t lead the league in rushing or anything- but at least he’s scoring touchdowns.

One in each game, actually. Which I guess technically means he could get 16 total- but that’s going to be impossible behind this line.

Saffold was a free agent bust- maybe when Pamphile comes back (which will likely be in a week or so) he can slide in at left guard and we can put this has been poser on the bench where he belongs.

I haven’t even mentioned how Taylor Lewan cried on video about “unknowingly” taking PED’s. I don’t feel bad for him.

I honestly feel bad for Dennis Kelly, who clearly should be our starting right guard. Because guess what? Nate Davis was yet ANOTHER WHIFF by J-Rob.

I’m starting to think he just drafted him because of his “frog” stance, which is upsetting because if he was so into drafting someone with a gimmick, maybe draft the guy whose “gimmick” is he’s ridiculously built and ran an insane 40 time and was the better receiver at Ole Miss!

Sorry, silver lining… right.

Byard is still a ball-hawk. Butler has stepped it up. Adoree has completely gone away from offense and special teams- and is shutting receivers down.

Vacarro looks invigorated and faster.

Even though #37 looks horrendous on any jersey, this Amani Hooker is getting a lot of playing time and should develop quickly. And of course Logan Ryan is on pace for an All-Pro season.

Even if we lose out — which maybe we should, this Joe Burrow guy from LSU would look good in two-tone-blue — this secondary will be the team’s brightest spot in what will likely be a dark, dark season.

It’s Week 4 and Marcus is bringing this team to the Super Bowl

Titans- 24 Falcons- 10

I bet for the first time ever, a Tennessee Titans’ quarterback will throw 30+ touchdowns in a season. That touchdown he threw to Corey Davis on the left sideline is one of the prettiest throws I’ve ever seen.

The anticipation.

The touch.

All his doubters say he can’t throw outside the numbers… but that doesn’t matter. If he plays like this for the rest of the season (which he will) then there will be no doubters left.

I have to eat a little crow here, because I was wrong.

Once he gets into the open field, it’s game over. A two-touchdown game from a rookie is nothing to sneeze at. If he keeps this up, I bet he barely edges out Garner Minshew for Offensive Rookie of the year.

Yeah, I had lost some faith in Corey Davis, but I’ve noticed something about this guy.

His touchdown was great, but what is really fascinating is how good he is as a blocker. I know it’s not sexy, especially considering his high draft pedigree- but his down field blocking has been crucial in Derrick Henry’s rise.

And hey, I’m still not sold on Art Smith.

His offense is very predictable and we are LUCKY Mariota is under center, likely changing plays.

I know it’s early, but I think this guy is the weak link in our coaching staff- and I wonder if our receiver’s coach Rod Moore can call plays? I really like the way he’s coaching this group up.

Derrick Henry finally hit 100 yards, on the nose.

Even though the secondary didn’t get any picks and gave up a lot of yards, most of that came from garbage time. What’s important is we didn’t let Matt Ryan throw a touchdown.

By the way, Rashaan Evans is really coming on- him and Jayon Brown seem like budding superstars in the middle of this defense.

Our D-Line is so solid!

DaQuan Jones has always been under appreciated, but a lot of our linebackers success has come from him eating blocks this season better than any season before. Jurrell looks like he always has: steadily great.

I’m sure this Jeffrey Simmons kid will be fine, but maybe he can redshirt this season. No need to rush him onto the field when it’s unlikely he will make much of an impact.

And how did I make it this far without mentioning that Marcus Ardel Taulauniu Mariota has yet to throw an interception this year?!

These last few seasons have been so misleading. This guy is deadly accurate. I know people make a lot of excuses for him, but I think that Primetime game against Pittsburgh where he threw 4 picks and his countless untimely injuries wrecked his confidence. He wasn’t used to failure because he shouldn’t be- he’s amazing. Now that he’s got his swagger back, I don’t see any reason why we don’t make him the highest paid quarterback in the league, and finally build this team around him.

The dark days are here, and all is lost…

Titans- 7 Bills- 14

7 points against the Bills. We have never and likely will never beat Josh Allen. He has so much poise. I think Buffalo will have a deep playoff run and it will because of how steady #17 is.

Titans- 0 Broncos- 16

Forget about the playoffs for the us, by the way.

0 points.

A goose egg.

They spent a second round pick on a quarterback who couldn’t even beat out Joe Flacco! ..who by the way, apparently is Titans’ kryptonite — that apparently only affects our offense.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t we score zero points against him last year when he was somehow, unbelievably their QB1?

Not to mention we’ve seen him beat us when we went 13–3. He was so good in the divisional round that year that the refs couldn’t bring themselves to penalize him for the most blatant delay of game since clocks were introduced to football.

Because that’s exactly what happened, this team is dead at 2–4. It’s time for a rebuild because we are wasting this elite defense.

Mike Vrabel only makes confounding, idiotic in game decisions and letting his players hit him in practice is not cool enough to warrant a head coaching gig. I’d shave every mustache on the planet to get Mike “Milquetoast” Mularkey back. We did that man wrong, and I think we will look back and realize any success Vrabel had in 2018 was residual at best.

This organization is so mystified and obsessed with the New England Patriots that they got conned into thinking they could become the new Patriots.

But we will never be the Patriots.

We became so obsessed trying to replicate that team, that we lost any semblance of being a team ourselves.

Let’s face it, Vrabel got lucky hiring Pees who just happened to want to come out of retirement randomly. But so far he’s hired LaFleur (who should have been hired as the head coach instead) who bailed after one season to go fulfill his destiny of coaching for a competent organization. Then, like a true spurned lover, finds the complete opposite thing and unceremoniously hires some trust fund schmuck under the guise of rewarding loyalty.

Because loyalty is worth more than having an offense.

The only thing impressive about him is that he found a way to make a behemoth like Derrick Henry disappear… 7 points in two weeks?

Clean house, it’s done. Lose out so we can draft another good quarterback this organization can ruin.

Vince Young was a transcendent college legend who won rookie of the year AND was on the cover of Madden, and yet we let Jeff Fisher psychologically torment him into oblivion.

Jake Locker was… well maybe that one is not on us.

Marcus is the main reason this team became even remotely relevant; this man came into this league and was literally perfect.

Yes, I am biased, but if you don’t believe me go watch highlights of his decimation of Tampa Bay.

Even before he played a snap for the Titans, he starred in a Beats by Dre commercial that was scored by Leon Bridges’ “River”. I was convinced right then and there that he would save this franchise. I must have watched that commercial over 100 times. For me, a person who fell in love with the Titans when I was 6, this is the first time I felt true unbridled hope since right before Kevin Dyson came up one yard short in Super Bowl 34.

Over the next few seasons, I watched the team I’d loved my entire life ruin the career of one of the most truly great human beings I’ve ever seen in sports. I’d go back to that video- of him working out on the beaches of Hawaii while the voiceovers of his parents showered him with deserved love, praise, and awe- as they reminded him of something I’m sure he’s always known and will always know:

Family is everything.

I’d go back to that video for hope after every injury he sustained and every time we let him down as a team… but there is no more hope to be had for this team. We’ve benched Mariota and his era in Tennessee is over.

I hope Marcus finds a team next season that will treat him like family, because I don’t think the Titans ever truly did. The impact he had on the men of this team is unrivaled by any Titan I’ve seen in my entire life.

Now that he’s been benched, I’m sure the media will have a field day and claim he was never good while highlighting games like he had in Denver and say that’s who he is, who he always was. If that truly is what he is now, which it seems to be, it is not how I will remember his career with the Titans.

I will remember him stiff arming the monkey off this organization’s back and willing us into the playoffs for the first time since the 2008 season.

I will remember him overcoming a 21–3 deficit in Arrowhead that was kickstarted by a touchdown he threw to himself.

I will remember him for who he was: the savior of this franchise.

But now it’s on to Ryan Tannehill, who I liked in Miami and was excited we got this off-season to take over for the black hole that was Blaine Gabbert. Tannehill looked decent coming off the bench against Denver, but he also failed to score points and threw a pick.

His arm looked strong enough to warrant a baseline of intrigue.

Regardless of how this team finishes the season, he seems like he will be a fun watch. Best case is he ignites this lifeless offense and the rest of the season isn’t a complete waste of time. Worst case, he flames out and we force Mariota back into the starting role as the front office and coaching staff silently hope he loses enough games to draft his replacement.

Is that light pouring through the cracks of our casket? Or is it just our minds playing tricks…

Titans- 23 Chargers- 20

What just happened? We stopped the Chargers what seemed like fifty times on one goal line stand and Jurrell Casey recovered a fumble to end the game- and likely the slim playoff chances Los Angeles had.

In a game where Tannehill looked both sharp and decisive while the first round rookie Jeffrey Simmons (who I knew should play this season) was undeniably dominate- we found the tiniest, littlest heartbeat.

Titans- 27 Buccaneers- 23

That tiny heartbeat grew bigger and louder the next week as Tannehill threw three touchdowns- none to Delanie Walker, the best tight end in franchise history, who apparently played his last game as a Titan against the Chargers in an afternoon where he had zero receptions and a noticeably reduced role- to outduel the consistently enigmatic Jameis Winston in a game that saw this once dead team get back to .500.

Despite the much needed win, I walked away concerned with the direction the defense is headed.

Why Bruce Arians called a play to anyone not named Mike Evans is a mystery no man will ever solve. We had no answer for him, and what was once the backbone of this team felt exposed.

I trust Pees to be capable of turning that around, because even though we are vulnerable to a true playmaker, he knows how to adjust. It also helps that his secondary is capable and healthy.

Titans- 20 Panthers- 30

Except that they aren’t healthy anymore.

Malcolm Butler, who was putting together a Pro Bowl caliber season, suffered a season ending injury that he couldn’t come back from even if the Titans somehow managed to make the playoffs… and if you don’t believe me ask Buck Reising on Twitter.

Our defense had no answer for Christian McCaffrey and somehow allowed some human named Kyle Allen move the ball consistently.

Yet, despite the loss, despite the devastating blow to our secondary, despite Derrick Henry being mostly corralled, despite the defense being gassed by a halfback who is getting legitimate MVP consideration, AND despite Tannehill throwing two killer interceptions; I think this team is finding its identity.

Art Smith has quietly- if not downright shockingly- called 3 very solid games, all of which are raised up by Tannehill’s ability to hit tight window throws and more importantly capitalize off play action.

All of it is certainly made more possible thanks to this freak of nature named AJ Brown- who seems to be coming into his own as a big play receiver and as the second best blocking receiver on the team.

Titans- 35 Chiefs- 32

If this season amounts to anything at all, it will be thanks to what would have to be the turning point of the season; winning a shootout against the reigning MVP, the best player in the NFL, the best quarterback of all time, Patrick Mahomes.

In his first game back from injury, Mahomes threw 50 passes for over 440 yards and peppered in some true on-brand magic en route to three touchdown passes only to be outshined by Derrick Henry’s monster day… and also a botched snap on a make-able field goal… oh and a game clinching field goal block by Josh Kalu as time expired.

This wasn’t a game we were supposed to win, but this team hung with the most explosive offense every step of the way. In almost any other season I’d look at this win, acknowledge the very fun stroke of good luck that it was and tamper my expectations for the rest of the year as we revert back to the mean.

But I’m finding myself unable to do that.

When you remove the “underdog-feel-good-story” of it all, what remains are the facts. Our offense hung with theirs not by emulating them, but rather staying within ourselves and believing in the run.

Lewan has been back for more games than he’s missed and hasn’t been perfect, but his attitude and leadership have paid big dividends and are a big reason everyone on the line is playing much better. They have they warts, but for 4 weeks straight they have been better than each of their opponents- with maybe one exception in Tampa, but at worse that was a push.

That by itself is great, but the blocking from the tight ends (especially Jonnu Smith and Mychal Pruitt) has proven to be essential for this teams success in not only the run game, but in play action as well. Almost ironically, it’s eerily similar to the exotic smash mouth scheme Mularkey implemented in a regime that now feels like a distant memory.

As this once dead team heads into their bye, they do so with a true identity and resurrected hope for their legitimate playoff aspirations. With the Jags finding their place among the familiar oblivion they’ve grown accustomed to, the Titans have clawed their way into the thick of it with the 5–4 Colts and the 6–3 Texans. Despite being 0–2 in their division and, more importantly, despite the disaster in Denver… somehow, the Titans find themselves in a position to possibly when the south.

Not bad for a team that just knocked the dirt off their casket.

Sidenote: At this point in the season, Titan’s Twitter has drawn a line in the sand where you are either with Mariota, or you hate him and think he’s a bum. Based on my interactions with most respected accounts, the overwhelming majority of fans are just happy to be winning.

But I think I speak for most when I say the joy doesn’t come without pain, as seeing Marcus on the sidelines selflessly cheering on the team he brought back from the abyss… with his helmet on, undoubtedly unable to reconcile the fact that this team is playing better without him… with the fact that he is dying to be out there competing.

The biggest surprise about winning 3 straight was: it wasn’t surprising at all…

Titans- 42 Jags- 20

Coming off the bye week, we watched Jacksonville do the most Jacksonville thing imaginable; start Nick Foles behind an offensive line that I believe now legally requires a quarterback with at least the illusion of mobility.

Instead, Foles was sacked a polite 3 times, and threw 48 passes while not eclipsing 280 yards nor did he throw a touchdown pass… which is even more Jacksonville than I thought was possible, especially when you consider the majority of the second half was garbage time.

This game was fun to watch, for sure. Tannehill was deadly accurate and became the perfect compliment for Derrick Henry who, by the way, recreated a shorter yet somehow equally disrespectful version of his 99 yard touchdown from the LAST time we punched the Jags in their mouth.

AJ Brown is unbelievable!

His touchdown felt like the entire city of Jacksonville started him on their fantasy teams this week. The defense was solid and Fournette’s numbers were woefully inflated. He’s the Blake Bortles of running backs, and if no one else has made that observation yet, please feel free to use it if you ever find yourself needing to be 100% right about something.

All that being said, my biggest takeaway was the confidence this team, myself, my brother Cam, and I imagine many other Titans’ fans had, that there was no way we would lose this game.

Titans- 31 Colts- 17

This game absolutely bolstered that confidence. I will admit there were moments of doubt throughout, but that is one non-negotiable side effect of being a Titans’ fan; when we play at Lucas Oil Stadium, you get nervous.

Those nerves were exasperated when Derrick Henry randomly lost a fumble that never happens anywhere else but in that cursed stadium. Also, is it illegal for all teams that play Indy to cover Jack Doyle, or just the Titans?

Despite the overall annoyance that gave birth to ever familiar anxiety, there was this feeling throughout… a feeling my other brother Brandon (a Colts’ fan) felt too… that the Titans would just pull away at some point. With the help of the transcendentally complementary duo that is Tannehill and Henry, and a little help from the reliably incompetent Jacoby Brissett, the Titans had no choice but to pull away and close the distance between us and the Houston Texans who, by the way, have kept up this lose 1 game win 2 games pattern the entire season.

Which means we could have the same record when we face off in week 15, if that pattern continues and we beat Oakland.

Titans- 42 Raiders-21

Which we did. Probably the most sure I was we’d win all season. Art Smith has improved so much and so quickly, that 42 points and a 91 yard AJ Brown touchdown against this defense almost felt… predictable.

Tannehill played not only his best game as a Titan, but maybe of his entire career. He was so good that the lone interception he threw turned into a play that will be in his highlight reel the day he retires. Derrick Henry went for over 100 yards and scored 2 touchdowns like it was nothing, but he aggravated his hamstring.

Of course the day the Texans get obliterated by the Broncos is the same day they luck into Henry getting hurt, and they will likely get to face a limited version of the best back in the NFL right now.

I’ve never seen a team so undeserving of their short list of accolades. Outside of the Patriots, the Texans’ winning ways have become the most constant source of numbing depression for me as a fan.

Luck be damned though, we are both 8–5 and after the crevice this team crawled out of this year? …Controlling our own destiny going into Week 15 feels incredible!

Back to back losses cost us the division, but all that really means is: the playoffs start a week early…

A weird calm comes over me.

Weeks 15 and 16 come and go and we are 8–7, meaning best case scenario is we go 9–7 for the 4th straight year. But much like the year Mularkey’s team got into the tournament at 9–7, this team feels capable of going into Arrowhead and stunning the Chiefs, who will likely be their opponent if the Titans’ beat Houston next week… unless the Dolphins somehow beat New England in Foxborough and the Chiefs win against the hapless Chargers.

Not to sound overconfident in a team who I wholeheartedly believed was done in Week 6… but it just makes sense we beat Houston. They are likely going to rest their starters, regardless of what Bill O’Brien says.

Also, speaking of patterns, the Titans I’ve known for the previous 3 seasons can’t help but finish 9–7. Yes, looking for patterns…. in the chaos…. that is the NFL…. is a sure fire way to convince yourself something will happen that ultimately will not.

However, in my 20 years of fandom there have been a few tried and true constants.

For instance, the Patriots will win 10 or more games, and more than likely the Super Bowl- no matter what. Andy Reid will constantly find new ways to become the personification of poor clock management. Justin Tucker will only miss field goals or extra points if I need 2 to 3 points to win my fantasy game.

But patterns all start somewhere, and I’m starting to think the Titans’ going 9–7 will happen until I’m dead.

There’s not much to say about these games other than I think with Henry full strength, we win both of them.

Titans- 21 Texans- 24

Houston got a lucky goal line pick off a ball that was forcefully dislodged from Anthony Firker’s hands, which before this game, I assumed he was incapable of touching a ball and that didn’t result in a catch that made me say “Ah yeah Firkser! Good for him!” Henry has a good game on one leg. AJ Brown is already my favorite receiver in franchise history. The biggest mistake Jon Robinson has made in his career thus far has been managing the kicking situation this season, and that’s saying a lot for a man who once drafted Kevin Dodd. Ryan Succop is either injured and we are ignoring it, or he’s reached his expiration date as a kicker.

Titans- 28 Saints- 38

At least Succop didn’t have a chance to ruin the game against the Saints because he was graciously put on Injured Reserve, despite Mike Vrabel ferociously insisting “he’s not injured, he’s never been injured, he doesn’t even have nerve endings so he couldn’t feel pain if God asked him to” or at least that’s how Titans’ beat writer and unparalleled social media martyr, Paul Kuharsky makes it sound on Twitter. AJ Brown ran for a touchdown and Ryan Tannehill was great again. Further entrenching themselves as the only choices for Offensive Rookie of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year, respectively. The Saints are a good team, but in no world do I think we give up a 14 point lead if we have Derrick Henry this game. Which I’m kind of glad we didn’t, the coaching staff made a good call resting him until Week 17. Plus, if plays we probably win, that’s 9 wins. Which means Week 17, or as I call it, “The Colliding of the Constants” becomes a paradox since neither constant could possibly happen- and that causes a glitch in the matrix, rendering all other games meaningless. I’m not a league expert, but I’m pretty sure the NFLPA has a contingency plan for that exact scenario where they cancel the playoffs and they award the Patriots another Super Bowl by default in lieu of drama and for the sake of brevity and “yeah they probably had it anyway.”

In case it’s not clear at this point — this season of highs and lows, banishments and redemptions, hellos and goodbyes… it’s taken a toll on me as a fan and fatigued has set in. It’s been 20 years of this, and I’ve seen it all from the Titans… I’ve seen everything but the only thing: the Super Bowl. And despite my certainty we will go 9–7 and subsequently make the playoffs as one of the hottest teams in the league. The team that no one wants to see in January. In spite of all this, the toll of 20 years of arguably futile fandom — has rendered me unable to even make an educated guess on if this team has a chance to win it all, or if it’s how it was when I watched my now, late father cry as he saw his Houston Oilers become the Tennessee Oilers and then the Tennessee Titans and then come a yard short from tying the Rams in the first and only Super Bowl he saw his team play in… if it’s how it was then? It’ll be 20 years before it happens again.

If the NFL really is chaos, then why does it feel so set in stone that the Patriots will win undoubtedly win one more before my Titans even get to another? Why does it seem like there’s always a Pittsburgh-type team with a shitty backup quarterback who scores 6 points against a team barely warm bodies in Week 17 and that “win” sneaks them into the Wild Card and then they unceremoniously exit so a team like Houston advances to the Division Round to be a sacrifice for the Ravens, Chiefs or Patriots who subsequently embarrass the Texans on their way to an AFC Championship — that a notable percentage of the National Media predicted moments after the Patriots won the latest Super Bowl? It all feels so… well it’s definitely not chaos. It’s monotonous and painful.

I’ve never needed a Titan’s win more. I’m counting on patterns and constants to break up the unwavering monotony of what it means to be a fan of this team — I’m sure this is what it’s like to be a fan of most teams.

It was a win and we’re in- and we won so we’re in…

Titans- 35 Texans-14

It happened. For the 2nd time in my adult life, the Tennessee Titans have made the playoffs with a 9–7 record. Derrick Henry was nothing short of spectacular, and watching him get a 53 yard, 4th quarter touchdown, that had zero ramifications on the outcome of this one-sided “game” — was the moment I stopped believing in what team could be, and started believing in what the team is. The Titans are a team that makes sure the guy who makes it all go, gets the rushing title despite only playing 15 games because he’s that awesome and he deserves it. Derrick Henry is the epitome of who the Titans are: strength. He scored 16 rushing touchdowns in 15 games because that’s what strong does. The Titans are the team who let’s Marcus Mariota sneak onto the field, and throw the pass that put his friend AJ Brown over 1,000 yards in his rookie season. The Titans have become the antithesis of what was almost their downfall. Simply put: the Titans are a family. And that’s cheesy and trite and I don’t care. They’ve come back from nothing and have a chance to go to Foxborough and end the dynasty. To change the landscape of the NFL for the foreseeable future. Any time a 6 seed makes the playoffs, the mantra is always something predictably lame like: Why not us?

But will all sincerity, that question has never replayed in my head louder and more frequently than the moment I saw that former Titans’ quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick, led the Dolphins over the Patriots pushing them into the Wild Card for the first time since 2009. But this is the first time Brady has shown real significant signs of aging. Brady is a free agent after the season, and no deal seems imminent. Regardless of that, they are tired and were banking on that bye week. If there was ever time to end the dynasty that has berated my love of football with nothing other than a sense of entitlement and dread — why not now? And if there ever was a team, why not the team the National Media cheekily called The Patriots South? Why not the team that rejected that moniker and the notion of needing to be any version of the Patriots all? Why not the team who came up one yard short 20 years ago? Why not the team who has come up one yard short every year since? Why not the team who faced certain death after Week 6 and refused to pack it in, and burn it down, and reset like everyone assumed they would? Why not this team, this family? Why not us?

As it turns out, it was us. The Tennessee Titans ended the dynasty….

Titans- 20 Patriots-13

Pure ecstasy.

What’s left after the inevitable?

When my buddy Jimmy first texted me to congratulate me after the game, he told me I should write an in depth column of the significance of this game. A task Jimmy claimed was my destiny (a statement I respectfully reject). A task I couldn’t wrap my mind around without first trying to contextualize what exactly this season was and how it led to the biggest win I’ve experienced as a Titan’s fan. Maybe more importantly, I had to figure out what recapping the season through the lens of a lifelong fan of the Tennessee Titans really meant in terms of the perspective it provided — for not only other Titans’ fans, but fans of any team not named the New England Patriots.

Along the way I realized, it was more than a recap of a tumultuous season for a team who became the unlikely hero and went on to dethrone a legitimate empire of unyielding dominance. It wasn’t until I realized what the dethroning really meant. It wasn’t until I saw countless people on social media thanking the Tennessee Titans for going into Foxborough and finally ending the dynasty that felt immortal. It wasn’t until I realized that if Brian Flores (another Belichick disciple, hell bent on taking down the very empire he helped lead to its final Super Bowl victory) and the Miami Dolphins hadn’t have gone into Foxborough themselves, and stunned a team who was playing to win, desperate for a bye week — then the Titans would have played the Chiefs and the dynasty would still be breathing, resting up for one more chance to be the only team standing, one last time, while 31 other franchises would have been forced to admit their season was ultimately futile one last time.

Does that mean the Patriots would have inevitably been dethroned by another team? More than likely, yes. I personally believe any of the 4 remaining teams in the AFC Playoffs (Ravens, Chiefs, Titans, and Texans) could have beaten them at any point in this postseason, because all 4 of those aforementioned teams are 1–0 against New England this season- and I will not forget to mention the equally probable dethroning of New England by whoever represents the NFC in the Super Bowl this year.

And yes, many teams (Giants, Ravens, Eagles, Broncos, Colts, and hell even the Jets) have beaten this Patriots’ Dynasty in the playoffs before this season- but none of them killed them for good.

Underneath all of it: the tired, yet desperately hopeful (but ultimately unwarranted) hot takes that Brady has lost “it” anytime he didn’t win a Primetime game, spygate, deflate gate, the Seth Wickersham article describing in great detail the massive unmendable divide between Bellichick, Brady, and Kraft in the same season they’d beat the Rams for the second time in the Super Bowl claiming their sixth Lombardi Trophy… that weird thing this season where the Patriots had a team employee film the Bengal’s sidelines… seemingly for a competitive advantage that pretty much every other team obtained without the need for rogue espionage… when Brady suffered a season ending injury in year that saw Matt Cassel lead the team to an 11–5 record but missed the playoffs for the second and final time over the entire course of their dynasty… which ultimately led to offseason storylines about if Brady would ever be the same again, and even a few head scratching takes that Cassel proved that Belichick and the Patriots didn’t need Brady at all… even though the year before he led the team to a 18–0 record heading into a Super Bowl they ultimately lost to the underdog New York Giants, a loss that some poor, lost souls tried to anoint as the end of the dynasty… a loss that was unsurprisingly followed by five more Super Bowl appearances- 3 victories, 2 defeats, each outcome used as fuel to spell the imminent demise of the seemingly immortal Patriots… in truth, I could list countless examples of the media, the players and the coaches of multiple teams across the NFL, providing takes, espousing hopes and dreams, and providing evidence all with one single, underlying motive — they needed it to be true, because all the other 31 teams in the NFL could only hope to rent the title of “World Champion”.

The Patriots owned it.

The National Football League itself, on some level, had to know New England had more ownership of the Super Bowl than the very league who failed to contain them. In my 20+ years of watching and studying the NFL, I’ve never seen the league blatantly try to prevent any team from winning besides New England. An argument could be made New Orleans faced this fate too, however, in my opinion. New Orleans was justly punished for a violation with far more dire consequences than anything the Patriots ever did or were unjustly accused of.

For context: the fines, the suspensions, and the mandatory forfeiting of draft picks New Orleans suffered in the aftermath of Bountygate seemed less harsh and unfairly disproportionate when compared to the $1,000,000 fine, Brady’s 4 game suspension, and the mandatory forfeiting of draft picks the Patriots suffered — all because Jim Irsay was mad he lost a playoff game and was oblivious to the existence of the ideal gas law.

But since Tom Brady has a private life, and he didn’t want to forfeit his phone to the league and subsequently the public — the NFL seemingly used it as an opportunity to take it upon themselves… to kill the dynasty.

But they never did die, not until January 4th, 2020. After completing their 19th consecutive winning season. After completing their 17th playoff season since 2001. After completing their dynasty by playing in 9 out of the possible 20 Super Bowls between the years of 2001 and 2020. The New England Patriots’ dynasty was brought down by a team who last appeared in a Super Bowl two seasons before Belichick and Brady went to and won their first.

I don’t know if the Titans are necessarily the most poetic team to end of all this. If I was being completely honest, I’d say poetic justice would have best been served by the New York Jets. The team Belichick bailed on to join the Patriots. Which has led to 20+ years of borderline irrelevance, winning the division only one time in that span, all while sharing said division with the coach who quit on them after only one day to join the team who would propel him to heights unknown — a rarified air occupied only by the greatest coach of all time.

But it wasn’t the Jets. Poetic justice instead came in the form of the team that plays in the city Bill Belichick was born in. It was the team that symbolically lifted 31 teams, themselves included, to a level playing field for the first time since 2001.

The Patriots could very well win a Super Bowl within the next decade, especially if Belichick is still around. But due to Brady’s imminent departure from New England, whether to another team or, less likely, to retirement. With Josh McDaniels likely becoming a head coach in 2020, just two seasons after bailing on the Colts to rejoin the Patriots. McDaniels will likely continue to try to become Belichick 2.0, but I believe he will fail. Not only because I think he’s secretly a bad coach and Belichick has employed him collectively for 16 years as a practical joke to be played on whatever franchise is dumb enough to make him their head coach. And not only because I believe this was exactly what Belichick did to the Denver Broncos while McDaniels likely believed he was living out his Belichick-Coaching-Cleveland moment.

No I believe that Belichick was the last of the head coaches who were truly smarter than everyone of his peers. After putting 20+ years of football superiority as a head coach on tape, after grooming coordinator after coordinator into brilliant football mind after brilliant football mind, after instilling relentless work ethic and providing a truly unparalleled football education to thousands of players since his first job with the Baltimore Colts in 1975, and last but not least: after inspiring and teaching generations of football fans who have already joined and will one day join the very league he’s arguably owned this entire Millennium — it was an inevitability that one day, through copying and transforming what he did, the league was going to, and I assert finally did… catch up with him.

In fact, the notion of inevitably has been what this entire piece is ultimately about. Through the lens of my Titan’s fandom and admittedly biased recapping of the 2019 Regular Season leading up to the 2020 Wild Card Game — I aimed to express how that inevitably shaped the mindset of a fan who has waited their entire life for the empire to crumble only to be the team who has a chance to end it all in one game.

My favorite team brought down the team that caused me to feel, for the past 20 years, that my fandom was ultimately tarnished and limited by the inevitably of knowing my team could never truly own the title of World Champion.

Throughout all the off seasons of changing coaching staffs, throughout every single draft of convincing myself that “we finally found the guy, the guy who will make this all worth it”, throughout every single game the Titans won or lost, throughout every conversation I had with my brother Cameron and my mother Denise, about how “this year is the year”…throughout every single experience I’ve had as a fan including every single word I wrote in the season recap — there was always this pervasive knowledge festering in every single thought I’ve had as a fan: “It doesn’t matter. The Patriots will come back and take it even if we get it.”

I believe this is a knowledge and a feeling every fan of an NFL team (who is not New England) has involuntarily had since this all began.

If you’re a fan of any of the teams who managed to beat the odds and win a Super Bowl in that time span- I do not believe that my statement takes away anything from the experience of pride, joy, and sports immortality that you have as a fan- an experience I’ve never known.

Rather I hope this contextualizes how impressive of a feat winning a Super Bowl during this era truly was. Because your team wasn’t only facing who they defeated- on some level they were facing the Patriots too.

More so than any team in modern NFL History, I assert the New England Patriots had the talent, the desire, and the opportunity to win the Super Bowl every single season during their respective dynasty.

Because for the past 20 seasons, the NFL was not a parity. It was run by an unrelenting tyrant, who believed all the glory there was to have was for the tyrant and the tyrant alone. More often than not, on a subconscious level, I assert that every fan of any of the 32 NFL teams felt that glory belonged to the Patriots too, and if anyone else wanted it- it would have to be ripped from their cold dead hands.

However, every time we believed the tyrant was dead, it would come back and grab what it believed belonged only to it, and close it’s fist around the glory- the rest of us staring at the light escaping the clenched fist- leaving only awe and envy behind our constant, observing eyes.

But if we look now, the glory rests in the open palm of the tyrant whose lifeless fist can clench no more. The glory is everybody’s and it’s nobody’s. It is likely to never be truly owned again, but rather experienced by a select few.. for a time- and then by more after that.

The light we all seek, the glory we all crave, is again elusive and unbiased- and it was freed by a Titan.

No matter what happens next, at least it will finally be different.

Add a comment

What is your view?

Send

Related posts:

Ev Finally Responds To All Your Whining About Medium Dying

In the past few months, there have been Medxit (Medium exit), and rumors of Medxit. Stories of doom and gloom about the platform and how top writers are walking away. Reads are less in some cases…

We Forced our Kids into Being Racial Minorities

One of the oft-hidden treasures of travel is that the more you get to know complete strangers, the less strange the world becomes. Nowhere is this more evident than in watching our four boys interact…

50th anniversary of Apollo 11

It is the golden anniversary for the Apollo 11 team. That Apollo 11 team in 1969, became the first Americans and humans to ever land on the moon. The team included commander Neil Armstrong, lunar…