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| Peyton Manning completed 22 of 34 passes for 228 yards in the Colts' win over the Titans. |
It seemed that both races would come to a head as the two teams meet in Nashville in week 14 of the season.
Both teams entered with identical 9-3 records, but the Colts had defeated the Titans 33-7 back in Week 2, which meant if the Colts won in Nashville, they would essentially hold a two-game lead over the Titans as they held the head-to-head tiebreaker.
So whoever won the game would not only have the upper hand in the race for the division title, but the NFL MVP race as well as Manning and McNair were seen by the media as the two frontrunners for the award.
Through the first 12 games of the season, Manning entered the game leading the league in passing yards(3,383), touchdowns(23), and completion percentage(66.7)while McNair had the highest quarterback rating in the league at 103.5
The Titans got the ball to start the game as they drove 44 yards in eight plays with the biggest play being a 26-yard run by Eddie George to set up a 40-yard field goal by Gary Anderson to give Tennessee a 3-0 lead with 10:29 to go in the first quarter.
The Colts would be given a short field thanks to a 29-yard return by Dominic Rhodes on the ensuing kickoff to give Indy the ball at their 45-yard-line.
Manning would complete three of four passes for 35 yards on a nine-play, 52-yard drive that would end with a 21-yard field goal by Mike Vanderjagt to tie the game at 3 with 6:50 left in the first quarter.
The Titans would respond with a nine-play, 80-yard drive which saw McNair complete all three of his passes for 45 yards on the drive which ended with a two-yard touchdown run by the quarterback to give Tennessee a 10-3 lead with 1:49 remaining in the first quarter.
The score was still 10-3 early in the second quarter when the Colts defense forced the first turnover of the game when cornerback David Macklin stripped Titans tight end Shad Meier at the end of a 16-yard catch, leading to a fumble that was recovered by Macklin at the Tennessee 43-yard-line.
The Colts would drive to the Titans 17-yard-line primarily on the running game as Manning only completed one pass during the drive which ended with a 35-yard field goal by Vanderjagt to cut the Titans' lead to 10-6 with just over nine minutes left in the second quarter.
After forcing a three-and-out, the Colts would get the ball back at their 15-yard-line as Indianapolis would drive 67 yards in 12 plays only to end up with another Vanderjagt field goal, this one from 36 yards out to make it a 10-9 game with just 1:53 left before halftime.
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| Edgerrian James ran the ball 25 times for 97 yards and scored two touchdowns. |
However, the Colts would get the ball right back on the ensuing kickoff as strong safety Mike Doss knocked the ball loose from Titans kick returner Eddie Berlin, leading to a fumble that was recovered by Robert Mathis to give Indianapolis the ball at the Tennessee 29-yard-line with 1:39 left in the half.
Manning would hit three passes in a row, gaining 20 yards before handing the ball off to Edgerrian James three straight times including on a 4th & 1 at the six-yard-line which James converted to give Indianapolis a 1st & goal with just 13 seconds left.
That was enough time for Manning to take a few shots at the end zone but both of his passes fell incomplete, forcing the Colts to settle for another field goal, which Vanderjagt made from 23 yards out to give Indianapolis a 12-10 lead as the first half came to a close.
The Colts would get the ball to start the second half and just like their first drive of the game would be given a short field as Rhodes returned the kick 44 yards to the Colts' 46-yard-line.
From there, it would take the Colts nine plays to drive 56 yards and finally get in the end zone as James punched it in for a two-yard touchdown to extend Indianapolis' lead to 19-10 with 9:39 left in the third quarter.
Lightning would strike twice on the ensuing kickoff as the Colts forced Berlin to fumble the football again, this time with Mathis providing the hit that knocked the ball loose and Ricky Williams(not that Ricky Williams)recovering the fumble at the Titans' 15-yard-line.
But once again, the Colts could only convert the fumble into three points as the Titans defense did not permit a 1st down and forced Indianapolis to settle for its fifth field goal of the game, a 26-yarder by Vanderjagt which increased the Colts' lead to 22-10.
The Titans would respond with a 10-play, 54-yard drive which ended with a 40-yard field goal by Anderson to cut the Colts' lead to 22-13 with 2:44 left in the third quarter.
The Colts got the ball back at their 32-yard-line and after Manning hit Marvin Harrison for 16 yards to start the drive, Harrison would make one of the most brilliant catches of his career as Manning threw a deep pass that seemed that went over Harrison's head, only to have Marvin dive and catch it with his right arm for a 42-yard gain and a 1st down at the Titans' 10-yard-line.
Things looked bleak for the Titans as they needed two touchdowns and two two-point conversions to tie the game with just over a quarter left to play.
But the Titans would not quit as they put together a 12-play, 69-yard drive which saw McNair account for all but six of the yards on the drive as he ran the ball twice for 18 yards and completed seven of nine passes for 45 yards with the last completion being a one-yard touchdown to running back Robert Holcombe to make it 29-19.
The Titans would attempt a two-point conversion to try and make it a one-score game, which they were able to do as McNair ran it in for the two points to make it 29-21 with 9:29 left in regulation.
The Titans defense would force a three-and-out to give their offense the ball at thier 23-yard-line, but were unable to go past the Tennessee 42-yard-line before punting the ball back to the Colts who took over at their 10-yard-line.
The Colts were able to pick up two 1st downs before having to punt the ball back to the Titans only to have Hunter Smith shank the punt which went only 18 yards to give the Titans the ball at the Colts' 48-yard-line with 2:40 left and a chance to tie the game.
On the first play of the drive, McNair would connect with Justin McCariens for 29 yards to Indianapolis 19-yard-line, then after two straight incomplete passes, McNair would hit McCariens again, this time for 18 yards to give Tennessee a 1st & goal at the one-yard-line.
Holcombe was dropped for an one-yard loss on 1st down, which was followed by an incomplete pass, setting up 3rd & goal when McNair found Derrick Mason for the two-yard touchdown to make it a two-point game at 29-27.
Now come the all important two-point conversion which the Titans needed to tie the game.
Lined up in the shotgun, McNair fired a pass intended for Mason, only to have defensive end Dwight Freeney tip the pass and making it fall incomplete to keep it 29-27 in favor of the Colts with 1:52 left in the game.
With two timeouts in his pocket, Fisher decided against the onside kick and instead kicked it deep as the Colts would take over at their 19-yard-line.
The Tennessee defense would do its job by forcing a three-and-out as the Titans were set to get the ball back as the Colts would punt it away with 50 seconds left.
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| Steve McNair accounted for 255 yards of total offense and three touchdowns. |
This time, Smith didn't shank it as his punt went 52 yards before it was caught by McCariens, who caught it at his own 29-yard-line and ran it back to the Titans' 40-yard-line, only to have the Colts' Clifton Crosby poke the ball loose which was recovered by teammate Anthony Floyd, the third special teams fumble recovery by the Colts of the game.
Manning would come on and take a knee to run out the clock as Indianapolis won the game 29-27, but more importantly were now in 1st place by themselves with a 10-3 record while the Titans fell to 9-4.
The Colts' season sweep of the Titans would ultimately decide the AFC South as both teams finished with 12-4 records with the division going to the Colts because of the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The Titans would have to go on the road to play the Baltimore Ravens in the Wild Card Round where Anderson made the game-winning field goal from 46 yards out with 29 seconds left to give Tennessee a 20-17 win.
As for the Colts, they would make it all the way to the AFC Championship Game as Manning completed 44 of 56 passes for 681 yards and eight touchdowns in Indianapolis' two playoff wins over the Denver Broncos(49-24 in the Wild Card Round) and the Kansas City Chiefs(38-31 in the Divisional Round).
But both teams' seasons would end at the hands of the New England Patriots, who eliminated the Titans 17-14 in the Divisional Round, then picked off Manning four times in a 24-14 win in the AFC Championship Game as the Patriots would go on to win their second Super Bowl title.
And for the MVP race, it would end up in a tie as Manning and McNair were named co-MVPs for the 2003 season.
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