The Tennessee Titans pulled off an improbable comeback win over the Houston Texans on Sunday, erasing a 7-point lead in the final seconds of the game after Houston scored a touchdown with 1:50 to go, and ultimately winning with a touchdown in overtime.
Houston was up one on their final drive and was steadily chewing clock as they marched down the field on a Titans defense that had little in the way of answers. It felt like a game where the team with the ball last would win as the two teams combined for 78 points, and Titans head coach Mike Vrabel seemed to recognize that his biggest enemy was the clock, not the Texans.
As such, with the Texans on the Tennessee 25 and facing a 2nd and 1 situation with 3:30 to play, Vrabel trotted a 12th man out on defense on purpose, knowing he couldn’t afford to let Houston take 40 or more seconds off the clock with a running play and would need his timeouts for a potential game-winning or tying drive. As illustrated in the video below, Vrabel calmly tells his guys to stay out there and then erupts to ensure the flag gets thrown and the clock stops at 3:05, saving them a timeout and also keeping the clock from rolling.
Mike Vrabel is outstanding
1. he rushes in 46 late (12th man on D)
2. 33 is WTF
3. penalty for 12men
4. Vrabel fakes upset & brings 46 offWHY?
-penalty stops clock
-time > yds
-knows HOU will scoreResult:
– w :04 left, TEN scores tying TD
– move saved 40 seconds & won game pic.twitter.com/wikWKtGuJD— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) October 19, 2020
Houston would score shortly after but the Titans had ample time to march down the field themselves and tie the game with four seconds to play — thanks in large part to the Texans failing a two-point conversion attempt to go up 9. In overtime, Tennessee had a 6-play, 82-yard touchdown drive to open the extra period to get the 42-36 win and it was, partially, the product of a savvy and timely penalty taken by Vrabel to save a timeout and stop the clock.
