A week after taking out the title holders, the New England Patriots and their legendary quarterback Tom Brady, the Tennessee Titans achieved another feat in the second round of the play-offs. This time, Mike Vrabel’s men won on the field of the Baltimore Ravens, best team of the regular season (14 wins-2 losses) led by the probable MVP of the season Lamar Jackson. But, on Saturday night, the hero of the game was Derrick Henry. The Titans runner became the first player in history to make three consecutive games with more than 180 yards on the ground.
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After the 182 against the Patriots, he traveled 195 yards with the ball in hand, a franchise record. The icing on the cake, he added a touchdown pass on a feigned game, for three yards in the direction of Corey Davis to then increase the score to 21-6 (39th). Two minutes later, quarterback Ryan Tannehill added a new touchdown, on a one-yard run to fold the match (28-6, 41st). Rarely, Tannehill has just won two play-offs matches without passing 100 yards since he was limited to 88 on Saturday (but two touchdown passes).
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Logic respected between the 49ers and the Vikings
For Baltimore, untenable in the regular season, everything went wrong from the start. On the first offensive series, Lamar Jackson was intercepted before receiving a penalty for his tackle on the opposing defender, putting the Titans in orbit (35 yards to go only for the first touchdown of the match). Despite 59 passes attempted (31 successful), 365 yards accumulated on the pass and 143 on the run, Jackson was never able to change the game, especially because of his three ball losses (2 interceptions and 1 fumble ). His touchdown pass for Hayden Hurst eleven minutes from the end was only a last-ditch without consequence on the outcome of the meeting. Tennessee is now waiting for the winner of the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans to know his opponent in the final of the American Conference (AFC).
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In the first match of the day, the logic was, however, respected. The San Francisco 49ers were too strong for the Minnesota Vikings (27-10). Mute after the break, the Vikings were stifled in attack (147 yards gained only). San Francisco will once again have home advantage in the National Conference (NFC) final, against the Green Bay Packers or the Seattle Seahawks who face each other this Sunday.
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