Sunday, November 18, 2001
Titans must get over heartbreak to keep hope
By JOE KAY
AP Sports Writer
CINCINNATI — Jon Kitna watched Steve McNair get yanked down short of the goal line with 0:00 showing on the clock Monday night and knew exactly what the Tennessee Titans were feeling.
He also knew what the Cincinnati Bengals were facing this Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium.
Tennessee's wild 16-10 loss to Baltimore — McNair's apparent touchdown was nullified by penalty and his final-play sneak came up short — reminded Kitna of his own brush with last-second heartbreak.
Kitna was Seattle's quarterback in 1998 when the Jets' Vinny Testaverde was awarded a touchdown with 20 seconds to play even though the ball never crossed the goal line. The phantom touchdown gave the Jets a 32-31 win, brought the NFL a step closer to reinstating instant replay, and left the deflated Seahawks out of playoff contention.
It also left them angry. They took their frustrations out on their next two opponents and won both games. Kitna figures the Titans (3-5) will be in the same mood.
Angry. Very angry.
“I've been through something similar to that,” Kitna said. “Believe me, they are not in a fragile state right now. They are in a (nasty) state. That's a scary type of team to play.”
The Bengals (4-4) are in the same state the Titans were last week. They have to win to elbow their way into the pack of playoff contenders.
The scary part of the Bengals is that no one knows what to expect from them. One week, they look like a team on its best roll in 11 years. A week later, they look like the old Bungles, the NFL's worst team of the past decade.
The old Bungles had trouble stopping Eddie George, who has had some of his biggest games against them. He had a career-high 36 carries for a season-high 181 yards in Cincinnati last season, when the Titans swept the series and ran their winning streak against the Bengals to six games.
George has been hurt and seems to miss blocking fullback Lorenzo Neal, who is clearing Corey Dillon's path in Cincinnati this time around. George has yet to run for 100 yards this season and the running game has been unreliable.
“We've shown some little spurts, little signs of getting back to where we need to be, but we haven't had a complete game like last year where Eddie's really rolling and we're getting big chunks of yards,” tight end Frank Wycheck said.
This game will be a good test of the Titans' running game. McNair has a swollen thumb and the tight ends and receivers have assorted injuries, so the Titans need to get George rolling against a defense that's gotten tougher up front.
“This team does not resemble the Bengals team of the last couple of years. This is a different team,” coach Jeff Fisher said. “It's not one of those deals it may have been in the past, where we could turn around and hand the ball to Eddie for 35 times in the game.”
The Titans had one of their best overall games of the season against Baltimore, but came up less than a yard short of a season-turning win. They walked off the field in disbelief, with heads down.
By midweek, they were still smarting.
“When you lose like that, it tends to stick with you,” George said. “There is no need to try and hide the fact. It hurts. You would be inhuman if you didn't really care.”
Another loss Sunday would give the franchise its worst nine-game record since 1994, when the Houston Oilers went 1-9 under Jack Pardee. Fisher took over as head coach for the last six games of a 2-14 season.
After consecutive 13-3 seasons, Fisher is trying to keep his team from falling apart at the midpoint.
“Either you go in the tank and try to make excuses, or you can fight,” receiver Derrick Mason said. “We're going to fight.”
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Titans must get over heartbreak to keep hope
