My Two Cents: Visions of 'Play To Win' Dancing In My Head

The Tennessee Titans offense was just 12 yards away from scoring a game-winning touchdown, but coach Mike Vrabel chose to go in a different direction and it backfired. The end result was a 16-15 loss to the Saints, and Vrabel's poor choice was a big reason why.

Tom Brew | Sep 11, 2023

My Two Cents: Visions of 'Play To Win' Dancing In My Head /

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Tennessee Volunteers

NEW ORLEANS, La. — The voice of Herman Edwards is bouncing from ear to ear in my head, and it won't go away.

"You play. ... To win. ... The game.''

Mike Vrabel and the Tennessee Titans had a chance to win a game on Sunday in New Orleans. It was right there for the taking in the season opener against the Saints. Right there.

But Vrabel, the best kind of winning football player and winning football coach for a very long time, took another path than trying to win a game. Sniffing the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown and trailing by four points with just 2:17 left in the game, he made the call to kick a field goal instead of trying to score what would likely be the game-winning touchdown.

It turned out to be the wrong decision, because after new Titans kicker Nick Folk converted his fifth straight field goal attempt to make the score 16-15, the Saints never gave the ball back. They converted two huge third-down plays and ran out the clock.

Game over. Without getting that last chance to win.

Hindsight is 20/20, of course, but it's not if you say it BEFORE Vrabel made his decision. He said after the game that he was counting on his defense to make a stop and get the ball back. That it made more sense to get a sixth field goal than to score a touchdown from the 12-yard line.

And he turned out to be wrong. That's on Vrabel for making the decision, and it was on the defense for not getting those stops.

Let's take you back to the moment real quick. On third-and-12 from the Saints' 17-yard line, Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill — who had an epically horrible day but more on that in a minute — hit DeAndre Hopkins on a short pass over the middle. But he was quickly corralled and brought down at the 11-yard line

It was fourth-and-6, and it really wasn't just about the touchdown. A first down was still an option as well, so this wasn't do or die. They just needed to make one play for a score — or at least keep the drive alive and the clock ticking.

The win was there for the taking.

Vrabel chose to rely on his defense to get the ball back, but what I don't get — and will never agree with — is why can't you rely on your defense at the 11-yard line if you don't make it? At least you get your chance to win right there. And if you don't? Then with timeouts and the two-minute warning, stop the Saints in the shadow of their own end zone and get one last chance again.

But at least you've given your players a chance to win. Vrabel took that away. What's the difference between losing by four and losing by one? Absolutely nothing, of course, unless you're a gambler more concerned with the point spread.

I am always of the belief that when you have a viable chance to win a game with your offense on the field, you take it. And there's a simple reason for that. You at least get the chance to control the action.

Give your playmakers a chance to make a play. Vrabel didn't do that. He took that chance away.

You'd love to decipher what went into Vrabel's decision in real time, what was going on in his mind. It's not an analytics thing — or is it? — but I'm guessing it was more decision made from the gut. He's a defensive guy after all, so maybe he trusted that group more to set up a chance for a game-winning field.

You can see the 50/50 kind of vibe to the decision, or 60/40. But I think the biggest question of the day was what made Vrabel swing the pendulum to the defense coming up with the big play?

And that's the scary thought.

Is it possible that Vrabel simply didn't trust his veteran quarterback? Is it possible that the 35-year-old Ryan Tannehill, who was playing his 146th NFL game and has won a ton of games for the Titans, didn't have the confidence of his head coach to get the job done?

Was that really a possibility?

If so, that's really, really scary.

I am never one to make a big deal of a Week 1 loss. It's a very long season. Heck, last year the Titans lost their first two games then proceeded to win seven of eight. So it's not worth overreacting. Many fans, mostly with somewhat limited football knowledge, want Vrabel fired. That's foolish — my polite way of not using the word stupid — because Vrabel isn't going anywhere.

Fans want Tannehill gone too, but that wish will have to wait until the end of the season. He's still the best quarterback on this roster in 2023. But facts are facts, and he was brutally bad on Sunday. He had three interceptions with no touchdown passes, and he's only done that once before in his career.

He had a 28.8 quarterback rating, the worst of his career. We all know he's had some real stinkers in his day, but this was the worst.

He missed wide open receivers on several occasions that could have made the difference in the game. He also didn't have a lot of time to throw with an offensive line that struggled to keep a clean pocket.

Maybe all of that comes into play in Vrabel's decision-making, but let's hope it didn't.

Because if Vrabel has lost faith in Tannehill getting the job done in a critical moment, then this could be a really difficult season. I picked the Saints to win 20-16 on Sunday morning because I needed this Titans offense — especially the offensive line — to show me something first before I could believe in them.

Maybe Vrabel thinks the same way.

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