Kicking for Redemption

                                                                                                                                    By: Adamo Marinelli

September 15th, 2020

     Denver, Colorado: Tennessee Titans’ kicker Stephen Gostowski missed three field goals and one extra point, but was still the hero against the Denver Broncos last night, kicking the game-winning field goal from 25 yards out to help the Titans win 16-14. 

     Both teams left a significant amount of points on the board. The Titans left 10 points on the board by missing three field goals and an extra point. The Broncos left three points on the board by not electing to kick a field goal on 4th down near the goal line in the second quarter and coming up short on 4th down. 

     In hindsight, this field goal would have given the Broncos a 17-13 lead late in the fourth quarter, forcing the Titans to go for the touchdown instead of a game-winning field goal. 

     However, I understand the play call. As a coach, you have to give your young offense a vote of confidence early in the season by letting them go for it.

But in the NFL, you cannot leave points on the board. I would have gone for the field goal.

     Both defenses were very good against the ground and the pass. Both offenses were efficient for most of the game.

     The Broncos limited Derrick Henry to only 116 yards on the ground. Without Von Miller, that is impressive for a young defense. Most of that yardage was gained on non-explosive plays too. Quiet yards, so to speak.

     Despite losing A.J Bouye to a shoulder injury late in the 2nd half, the Broncos secondary played well too. Michael Ojemudia and Essang Bassey played well for their first NFL game without a preseason. Ojemudia would have had his first interception, but a very questionable penalty on Alexander Johnson proved costly and took it away.

     That unnecessary roughness penalty, Vic Fangio’s choice not to take timeouts as the Titans were driving up the field for a game-winning field goal, the choice to go for it on fourth down in the second quarter, and a few overthrows by Drew Lock were the only mistakes in the game for the Broncos. 

     Here is why Fangio elected to not take his timeouts, allowing the clock to run from 1:33 to 0:49 after Derrick Henry’s 13-yard run. 

     “It was two-fold,” Fangio said. “One, their field goal kicker obviously had been having his problems so I didn’t want to extend the drive where they could get closer.

“Number two, we would have used a timeout, but we got the running back out of bounds. We would have used a second timeout, but they threw an incompletion which would have given us one when we got the ball back so that was part of the thinking there.”

     I have two problems with this reasoning. Firstly, call a timeout after Henry’s 13-yard run to keep the clock at 1:33 instead of letting it go to 0:49. Then you have the out of bounds run, incompletion, and the go-ahead field goal and you give your offense 1:20 seconds with two timeouts to respond to a potential game-winning field goal instead of 0:25 seconds.

      Secondly, they were already close to the endzone. They were already in field goal range after Henry’s run. Gostowski missed three field goals all over 41 yards. Despite his struggles, a kicker of his caliber would likely not miss a 25-yard field goal. Meaning you need to use your timeouts to give your offense a chance to get their own game-winning field goal.

      Despite all this, I won’t bang Fangio for his logic. I would have used a timeout, but he knows more than I do about coaching. Regardless, Denver has a good team, and when they get Courtland Sutton, Philip Lindsay, and hopefully A.J Bouye back in week two, they should be fine.

     The Broncos played good offensively, moving the ball up the field using the run game consisting of Philip Lindsay and Melvin Gordon and also using their young receivers like Jerry Jeudy, Tim Patrick, DaeSean Hamilton, and their tight ends like Noah Fant. Fant caught a TD from Lock and Gordon recorded his first rush TD as a Bronco. 

     Their offensive line played well - they did not give up a single sack or get called once for holding. They opened up run gaps in the opposing defensive line and gave enough time for Lock to connect with his receivers. Lock played well too. He recorded 216 passing yards, one TD, and 0 INTs and was consistently escaping the pocket to buy his receivers more time and keep the play alive. If Denver is patient with him, and he develops a bit more, he may be their franchise guy.

     With under seven minutes to play in the game, the Broncos had the ball twice and could only take under four minutes off the clock. This gave the Titans time to get a drive going. The Broncos need to improve closing out games.

     However, the Titans showed why they were the best red-zone offense in the league last year, scoring two touchdowns and the game-winning field goal on their three red-zone appearances. Denver’s best red-zone defense last year couldn’t stop them.

     Early in the game, knowing the Broncos had to use a lot of resources to cover Derrick Henry in the run game, the Titans got huge chunks of yards through the air, using their play-action game. Especially against the Broncos’ young cornerbacks, Corey Davis, A.J Brown, and Adam Humphries were able to consistently move the chains. Ryan Tannehill was efficient, throwing for 249 yards, two TDs, and 0 INTs.

     They stopped doing this in the second half, which led to a few three-and-outs but was still effective on offense all game long.

     The Titans' defense played well too, limiting Gordon to 78 yards, and Lindsay to 24 yards before he left the game with an injury in the second quarter. They played well against the Broncos receivers but got beat on several instances. Most importantly, they were able to get key stops on the Broncos’ fourth and goal chance in the second quarter and when the Broncos were trying to drain the clock in the fourth quarter with a 14-13 lead. 

     They also forced Gordon to fumble deep in Denver territory which led to the Titans’ first touchdown and tied the game at 7-7. If that fumble doesn’t happen, the Titans offense, which had looked not at its best might not have scored any points in the first half. 

     Mistakes were made and points were left off the board for both teams but overall it was a very good game to watch, especially considering there were no preseason games played. The future is bright for both of these teams, who will both be competing for an AFC playoff spot this season. Especially the Broncos, with all the youth they have on offense and all the talent on defense.

     Broncos visit the Steelers in week two, Titans host the Jaguars.