The Tennessee Titans earned a morale boosting win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night, thanks to a last second field goal from Rob Bironas.
The victory pushed the Titans' record to 2-4 for the season, but the result revealed more about the Steelers' chances of winning an unprecedented seventh Superbowl title than it did about any potential Tennessee revival.
It was a record breaking night for Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers trigger-man threw for 363 yards and a touchdown to overtake Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw as the franchise's all-time career passing leader. However, it was not enough to get past Mike Munchak's resilient Titans, who bounced back from an anaemic display in Minnesota to deliver a performance filled with fighting spirit.
Things did not start well for the men from Nashville however, as after the two sides traded field goals, Roethlisberger hit Mike Wallace on a 84-yard bomb to give the Steelers a 10-3 lead. The game was quickly turned on it's head though, as the Tennessee special teams produced a big play to block a Drew Butler punt and put the Titans offense in prime position to take the lead following another Rob Bironas' field goal minutes earlier.
Running back Jamie Harper duly punched in the score from the 1-yard line early in the 2nd quarter, and the home side extended their advantage just before the half. Bironas splitting the uprights once more in to end a period that had been dominated by the defences after Roethlisberger had been intercepted by Jason McCourty.
Munchak's men had conceded 30 points in the Minneapolis last weekend, so their 16-10 Half-Time lead was never going to be much of an advantage, and two good drives from Roethlisberger soon reversed the tide as a Sean Suisham field goal and a 1-yard run from Baron Batch - sharing carries with Isaac Redman in the absence of Rashard Mendenhall (who left the game with an injury in the 3rd quarter) and Jonathan Dwyer - put the visitors back in command.
Suisham knocked another three-pointer to extend the lead to seven, but veteran Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was on form for the Titans and he recovered from an interception on the previous series to lead his offense on a 65-yard scoring drive which was completed when he connected with Kenny Britt for the game-tying TD.
Still in spite of the Tennessee's improved offensive display, the visitors still had an opportunity to clinch the victory, however the chance fell by the wayside as Suisham's 54-yarder fell just short.
Bironas made no such mistake however, and he converted his fourth field goal from 40 yards after Hasselbeck led his troops down to the 22-yard line to give Munchak's men their second win of the campaign.
The defeat was uncharacteristic of Steelers sides of the past, who were, for the most part, built on the strength of their running game and solidity of their defense. Indeed, the injury to Mendenhall has undoubtedly been detrimental to Pittsburgh's fortunes, Batch was able to find the end-zone in his stead, but rushed for a disappointing 22 yards as Roethlisberger was forced to put the team on his back once more.
Roethlisberger is no stranger to that kind of pressure, but a one-dimensional offense is rarely a successful one in today's NFL and coach Mike Tomlin - who also saw his side lose Center Maurice Pouncey to injury - will need to a find a solution to their backfield dilemma sooner rather than later.
The ease with which the ageing Hasselbeck was able to pick apart the Steelers' secondary will also be of concern, the former Seattle man threw for 290 yards and a touchdown and demonstrated good chemistry with receivers Britt, Kendall Wright and Nate Washington, while Chris Johnson had one of his better days on the ground, rushing for 91 yards on 19 carries.
Those performances will give hope to a Titans team that look set to battle for a Wild-Card spot due to the Houston Texans' dominance of the AFC South. However, for the Steelers, whose AFC North division contains the fearsome force of the Baltimore Ravens and the upstart Cincinnati Bengals, a losing record (2-3) is unacceptable and they will look for a drastic improvement when they take on when they travel to Cincinnati next Sunday.
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