‘D’ can lift Titans to a ‘W’ today
No Vince Young? No Bo Scaife? No Roydell Williams? Injuries crippling the Titans in their first visit to the playoffs since 2003? No problem. The Titans franchise has seen this situation before going into San Diego and emerged victorious.
The year was 1979, when the banged up Houston Oilers traveled to Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego to take on Air Coryell and the future hall-of-famer Dan Fouts’ offense in what was supposed to be a laugher. One week prior, in their 13-7 playoff win over the Denver Broncos, the Oilers had lost starting quarterback Dan Pastorini and hall of fame running back Earl Campbell. They had also lost their leading receiver Ken Burrough and were heading in to take on Don Coryell’s high-octane offense in round two of the AFC playoffs.
Although the writing was on the wall, much like this year, where the Titans have been led by their defense, the Oilers came with a strong defense which determined the outcome of the game. While Fouts, who was the 1970s version of Peyton Manning, threw for 333 yards, a busy Oiler defense forced five interceptions, four by rookie safety Vernon Perry to keep it close. Then, a 47-yard touchdown reception by Mike Rinfro sealed a 17-14 win.
To this day, folks around Houston will tell you the upset win over the Chargers that year was the high point of Oiler football. The following week the Oilers would lose 27-13 to the Steelers who would go on to beat the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl. The Oiler defense would also admit they found a way to read Fouts by watching his foot position pre-snap, as he would set his foot in a different position while under center when it was going to be a pass. The linebacker, when he saw the set up, would yell ‘Army’ if it was to be a run or ‘Air Force’ if it was to be a pass. While they didn’t know the exact play coming, they did know whether to be in pass or run coverage, something which is very important in a game determined by three points.
Frankly, Philip Rivers isn’t even close to Fouts. Instead, LaDanian Tomlinson is who the Titans need worry about today. And, unlike the 1979 Oilers, the Titans today may very well have their starting quarterback, Vince Young, who could end up giving way to Kerry Collins if his quad starts nagging again.
The bottom line is that dismissing the Titans as a real threat to the Chargers, who have had trouble winning first round games, is short sighted. Actually, it took a Music City Miracle and Jeff Fisher’s ultra conservative game philosophy for the Chargers to come back and beat the Titans when they played in Nashville as the Chargers converted on improbable fourth and long situations to erase a 17-3 fourth quarter Titan lead. Plus, Rob Bironas missed a chip shot field goal which would have put it out of reach.
As for injuries on offense, the Titan offense can’t be much worse than it already is as their 10-6 record comes only because of a stingy defense and an incredibly easy regular season schedule. Much like the Oilers in 1979, if the Titans are to win today, they will do it with their defense.
The key will be to contain L.T., the strength of the Chargers, and exploit Rivers, the liability of the Chargers, who has shown a tendency to come apart when he gets hit in the mouth a couple of times.