The Day The Titans Tried to Play Keep-Away With Peyton Manning

Injuries in the secondary convinced coaches their best bet was to try onside kicks as often as possible.

Peyton Manning week at SI is in full swing, and AllTitans continues to do its part to contribute to the festivities. Today, a look at the 2004 contest in which the Tennessee Titans, decimated by injuries in the secondary, attempted three onside kicks in one quarter.

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Before Tom Brady left New England, Peyton's NFL free agency was one of the most discussed in decades. @Peter_King had the scoop in 2012 and came on 'The Record' to share how Manning to the Broncos came to be: https://t.co/rZ0x9JrXNB pic.twitter.com/NnCMr5bRM7

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NASHVILLE – Peyton Manning and his Indianapolis Colts receivers were going through their regular pre-game routine. They worked their route tree with typical timing and precision.

That’s when it happened. A short time earlier, the Tennessee Titans had determined that their best cornerback, Samari Rolle, was unable to play because of an injury.

“So, he came walking out on the field with street clothes on,” Dave McGinnis, then the Titans linebackers coach, said. “And when Manning looked over there and saw that Samari wasn’t playing, they just quit the pre-game warmup and went in.”

Presumably, they figured they needed to save their energy for the number of times they were about to go up and down the field.

It was Dec. 5, 2004, and Tennessee already was on its third starter of the season at strong safety and its second at free safety. Their best backup cornerback was not available either to play in Rolle’s place.

Coach Jeff Fisher and his staff, however, had prepared for the worst. He discussed his idea with his coaches early in the week, presented the plan to the team that Wednesday and sought assurance that everyone was on board. All insisted they were.

So, it was decided: The Titans would onside kick every opportunity they got.

“The reaction was, ‘Hell, yeah. Let’s do it.’ So, we did,” McGinnis, now color analyst on the team’s radio broadcasts, said. “Look, we were struggling with that [secondary] group. We knew it was going to be a scoring fest. … (Fisher) said we’re going to do everything we can to win this game.”

Three times in the first 11 minutes-plus the Titans scored. And – just as their coach promised – three times they tried an onside kick.

The first came 4:23 into the contest after Tennessee took a 7-3 lead on Drew Bennett’s 48-yard touchdown reception.

The Titans recovered, which led to a Gary Anderson field goal 2:29 later – and another onside attempt. That one went out of bounds, and the Colts responded with a game-tying touchdown.

Another Bennett touchdown catch – this one from 28 yards – made it 17-10 with 3:54 to play in the opening quarter. It also prompted an onside kick. Tennessee recovered that one but failed to convert it into points.

It was the responsibility of special teams coach Alan Lowery to come up with as many onside kick options as possible. Those early results were promising.

“Back then, you could do a lot of things because there was no rule about the number of people on each side of the ball,” McGinnis said. “Alan Lowery was one of the best special teams coaches ever to come down the pipe. He said, ‘Oh, I have things we can do.’”

He never got any farther down his list.

The first period ended with Bennett’s third touchdown reception and the Titans ahead 24-17. They opened the second quarter with a traditional kickoff and from there did everything they could not to punt. Three straight possessions in the second and third quarters (not counting a kneel down at the end of the half) ended with failed fourth-down attempts.

Indianapolis ultimately won 51-24. Manning threw for 425 yards on 25 completions, with three touchdowns and two interceptions. For his career, that performance ranked seventh in passing yards and in yards per attempt (12.9). It was his 12th game – in as many tries – that season with multiple touchdown passes.

“It was working for a while,” McGinnis said.

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