The Tennesee Titans spent most of Sunday morning’s game in London playing catchup. The Los Angeles Chargers took a sizable lead early on behind two massive touchdown throws from Philip Rivers, but the Titans kept chipping away throughout the second half. Eventually, with the game on the line, Tennesee was in a position to tie the game, but they chose to play it risky. After scoring a touchdown to pull within one, Mike Vrabel made the somewhat surprising call to go for two.
The Titans actually had two chances to win late. Their first play failed, but defensive holding was called giving them another shot. The Titans again played for the two, but, once again, Marcus Mariota’s pass hit the ground and all-but guaranteed a Chargers victory — the real kicker is that, on the first play, Dion Lewis was incredibly open.
THE moment which decided the game!
THAT @titans 2-point gamble!#TENvsLAC #NFLUK 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/S31bRikQZW
— NFL UK (@NFLUK) October 21, 2018
This was risky. Even if the Titans had gotten the two points they still would have given the Chargers 30 seconds and two timeouts to go kick a field goal and win the game. However, at the same time, that might be the logic in going for two there. Instead of playing for the tie and maybe losing on a field goal they chose to put themselves in control of the lead. It’s controversial, but the logic makes sense.
This was a play that, had it worked, would have made Vrabel and the Titans look like geniuses. Instead, they look like they took an unnecessary risk and lost the game. That’s the nature of the beast, unfortunately. But in the words of Herm Edwards, you play to win the game.
