NFL Old School Game of the Week: Titans' "Giant" 4th Quarter Comeback Over New York

 

Titans quarterback Vince Young accounted for 318 yards of total offense and three touchdowns in Tennessee's win over the Giants in 2006.

The game between the New York Giants and Tennessee Titans during week 12 of the 2006 NFL season would be a microcosm for both teams' seasons with the Giants starting out fast and fading at the end while the Titans got off to a slow start but came on strong to finish the season.

The Titans came into the game with a 3-7 record after starting the season 0-5 as their plan to have their rookie quarterback Vince Young, who had been selected with the #3 overall pick in the 2006 NFL draft, to sit behind starter Kerry Collins nullified as head coach Jeff Fisher inserted Young as the starting quarterback in the fourth game of the season.

Young had looked like a rookie as he had completed 90 of 197 passes for 1,074 yards and six touchdown passes to go against his eight interceptions while running for 225 yards and three touchdowns as the Titans had gone 3-4 since Young became the starting quarterback.

Tennessee was just looking to see progress from their rookie quarterback while New York was looking to back on track as far they entered the game on a two-game losing streak which had dropped the Giants' record to 6-4 after a five-game winning streak in the middle of the season.

The Giants were led by head coach Tom Coughlin, who was in his third season as the New York head coach after a seven-year run with the Jacksonville Jaguars, as the Giants looked to return to the postseason for the second year in a row as they had gone 11-5 and won the NFC East the year before.

However, the Giants' locker room was in a bit of turmoil as running back Tiki Barber had announced in October that he would be retiring at the end of the 2006 season even though Barber was the peak of his career as he had run for 1,830 yards in 2005.

Despite his pending retirement, Barber was still producing as he had run for 998 yards up to this point in the season while quarterback Eli Manning had thrown for 2,202 yards and 18 touchdown passes.

Manning, Barber, and the Giants would travel to Nashville where they would take on the Titans where the first three quarters of the game were dominated by "Big Blue".

 After both teams punted on their first possessions of the game, the Titans had the ball around midfield when running back Travis Henry lost the football after a hit by Giants linebacker Reggie Torbor as strong safety Gabil Wilson would make the recovery to give New York the ball at their own 48-yard-line.

From there, it would take nine plays for the Giants to get into the end zone as Manning hit Burress for a three-yard touchdown to put New York on top 7-0 with 4:26 left in the first quarter.

Following a Tennessee three-and-out, the Giants got the ball back at their 24-yard-line as they would embark on a 10-play, 76-yard drive where Manning completed four of five passes for 40 yards on the drive which ended with a 10-yard touchdown run by running back Brandon Jacobs to extend the New York lead to 14-0 with 12:28 to go in the second quarter.

It would take the Giants' defense just one play to give their offense the ball back as defensive tackle Fred Robbins recovered a fumble after a botched handoff between Young and Henry at the Titans' 29-yard-line to put New York on the doorstep of any other touchdown.

The Giants would advance all the way to the Tennessee four-yard-line when on 4th & 1, Coughlin decided to go for the 1st down instead of taking a chip shot field goal as Jacobs would not only pick up the 1st down, but punch into the end zone for the touchdown to increase New York's lead to 21-0 midway through the second quarter.

Titans quarterback Adam "Pac-Man" Jones would intercept two Eli Manning passes in the fourth quarter and return a punt 23 yards to set up 17 points for Tennessee.

The Titans' offense, which had complied just one 1st down and 34 total yards up to this point, would show signs of life on their ensuing possession as they would hold the ball for nearly seven minutes as they drove from their 31-yard-line to the Giants' two-yard-line when they were faced with a 4th & goal situation.

Fisher decided to go for the touchdown which they could not get as Young would be tackled one yard short of the end zone by Giants linebackers Antonio Pierce and Carlos Emmons to give New York the ball back at their one-yard-line with 1:06 left before halftime.

The Giants would be able to pick up a 1st down as the Titans spent all three of their timeouts to force a New York punt to give Tennessee one last chance at getting on the scoreboard before the end of the first half as their offense would take possession at their 46-yard-line with 38 seconds to go in the half.

A thirteen-yard run by Young and an 11-yard pass to tight end Bo Scaife moved the Titans to the Giants' 30-yard-line, giving Rob Bironas a chance at a 48-yard field goal on the final play of the first half, only for the kick to sail wide right as time expired with New York maintaining its 21-0 lead.

After an exchange of punts to start the third quarter, the Giants took over at their 11-yard-line as they would hold the ball for the rest of the third quarter as Manning would complete five of his six passes for 41 yards to move New York to the Tennessee 31-yard-line.

The Giants decided to gamble on the first play of the fourth quarter when they decided against a field goal and go for the 1st down on 4th & 3 as Manning's pass for wide receiver Tim Carter fell incomplete to give the Titans the ball back at their 31-yard-line.

Despite the failure on 4th down, it did not seem the Giants were in danger of losing the game, especially after their defense held the Titans' offense to three-and-out to give their offense the ball back at their 29-yard-line.

Barber started the drive with a six-yard run to bring up 2nd & 4 when Manning threw a deep pass intended for Burress that was overthrown and picked off by Titans cornerback Adam "Pac-Man" Jones, whose 28-yard return gave the Titans the ball at the Giants' 46-yard-line.

A 25-yard pass from Young to wide receiver Bobby Wade gave Tennessee a 1st down at the New York 21-yard-line when a dead ball personal foul penalty on running back Lendale White after a two-yard run by Young pushed the Titans back to the New York 34-yard-line where the Titans were faced with a 2nd & 23.

Two passes for 14 yards would bring up 4th & 8 as the Titans would go for the 1st down which if they failed to convert would likely end any chances of a miracle comeback for Tennessee.

Young would scramble to try and pick up the 1st down but he was going to fall a few yards short when Giants cornerback Frank Walker hit the Titans quarterback in the helmet with a forearm as Young was falling out of bounds, resulting in a 15-yard personal foul penalty to be added on to the seven-yard run to give Tennessee a 1st & goal at the New York six-yard-line.

Three plays later, the Titans had their first touchdown of the game as Young hit Scaife for a four-yard touchdown to cut the Tennessee deficit to 14 points at 21-7 with 9:38 to go in the fourth quarter.

The Titans' defense would then force a three-and-out to give their offense the ball back in Giants territory as Jones returned the ensuing punt 23 yards to the New York 36-yard-line.

Young would connect with Wade on back-to-back passes for 20 yards to start the drive before handing the ball off to Henry who would run for nine yards to the New York seven-yard-line as Young would hit Scaife for five yards to give the Titans a 1st & goal at the two-yard-line.

After Henry ran for one yard on 1st down, Young would keep it himself and run it in for the one-yard touchdown to trim the Giants' lead to 21-14 with 5:24 left in the fourth quarter.

The Giants would pick up one 1st down on their ensuing possession before they had to punt the ball away to the Titans who would take over at their 24-yard-line with 3:07 left in regulation with a chance to drive and score the game-tying touchdown.

Young would throw three straight incomplete passes to force a do or die 4th & 10 when the Giants had appeared to have the game won when defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka had Young wrapped up for a quarterback sack, only for him to let the rookie quarterback out of his grasp as Young would run for 19 yards to give Tennessee a fresh set of downs at their 43-yard-line.

Young would then complete a 20-yard pass to wide receiver Roydell Williams, which was followed by a 16-yard run by Young and then a 14-yard pass to wide receiver Drew Bennett to set up 2nd & 3 from the Giants' 14-yard-line when Young found Brandon Jones in the back of the end zone for the touchdown that with Bironas' extra point tied the game at 21 with 44 seconds remaining in regulation.

The Titans celebrate after Rob Bironas(2) kicked the game-winning field goal.

Having seen their 21-point lead evaporate, the Giants had a chance to save themselves if they could drive down the field and set up a potential game-winning field goal as they got the ball at their 19-yard-line with 40 seconds left and all three timeouts.

But after a nine-yard pass on 1st down, Manning threw a pass that was badly underthrown for Tyree and was intercepted by the Pac-Man to give the Titans the ball at the Giants' 49-yard-line with 23 seconds to go and one timeout in Tennessee's pocket.

Young would hit Scaife for 11 yards who would step out of bounds with 18 seconds left which was followed by a seven-yard pass from Young to Brandon Jones as the Titans would spend their last timeout with 11 seconds left.

It was here where Fisher decided to send in the field goal unit as Bironas would come to attempt a 49-yard field goal that would give the Titans the lead for the first time in the game.

Despite an attempt by the Giants to freeze him with a timeout, Bironas' kick was true as it sailed through the uprights to give Tennessee a 24-21 win as the Giants could not pull off a miracle touchdown on the ensuning kickoff.

In the final 12:55 alone, Young completed 13 of 17 passes for 133 yards and threw two touchdown passes while running for 46 yards on five carries and scoring another touchdown to lead the Titans the largest comeback from a 4th quarter deficit in team history.

The collapse against the Titans would be a microcosm of the Giants' season as they started out strong only to fade at the end as they would lose three of their next four games to fall to 7-8 only to save themselves with a 34-28 victory over the Washington Redskins in the final game of the regular season, thanks to a 234-yard performance by Barber, to finish the season with a 8-8 record, good enough to earn the final playoff spot in the NFC.

However, the Giants' season would end the following week in the Wild Card round as they lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 23-20 on David Akers' walk-off 38-yard field goal.

As for the Titans, they would ride the momentum of their comeback win against the Giants to a six-game winning streak to improve their record to 8-7 as win over the New England Patriots in their regular season finale would clinch a playoff spot for Tennessee.

But the Titans would fall to the Patriots 40-23 to end their season with a 8-8 record as Young would go on to win the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award as he finished the season with 2,199 passing yards and 12 touchdown passes to go along with his 552 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns.

Injuries and tension with front office management would derail Young's NFL career as he would be cut by the Titans after the 2010 season as Young would play the 2011 season for the Eagles as Michael Vick's backup before bouncing around the league as he signed with three successive teams over the next three seasons only to be released during the preseason in all three seasons.