KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Tennessee Titans are not the most talented team. They are not the best-coached team in the league. They are not the smartest team in the NFL.
After Sunday’s remarkable 19-17 win against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Titans may be the most resilient team in the league.
With a minus-9 wind chill temperature in Kansas City at kickoff and trailing by 14 points on Sunday after a little over 10 minutes, they resisted any temptation to huddle by the heaters and stare at the clock.
“In this locker room, we don’t doubt,” tight end Delanie Walker said. “We know we’ve got a great thing and it’s going well. We knew we could come out here and beat them.
“Everybody probably counted us out after those [three] turnovers. But we believe in each other and we know we are built for these type of games, to finish at the end, and that’s what we did.”
Ponder that. They don’t doubt.
This is a team that earned the second pick in the 2014 draft and the first pick in 2015. During that span, the Titans went 5-27. This is a team that hired Mike Mularkey, a retread coach who had an 18-39 record in his previous head-coaching work. This is a team that hasn’t beaten the Colts, usually the leader of the AFC South, in its past 11 tries.
They don’t doubt.
Ryan Succop said he thought he’d go 0-for-10 from 53 yards given the Arrowhead Stadium conditions and missed well short on an attempt that was washed away by a Kansas City timeout. He then smashed his second chance over the bar, atoning for a failed two-point conversion just over three minutes earlier. The Titans improved to 8-6.
While Mularkey’s mindset was admirable on the two-point try and the percentages made it a reasonable attempt, it was borderline crazy not to tie the game and then try to win. Or to be pleased to go into overtime against the Chiefs, who stalled badly after halftime.
But the coach got a massive two-for-one.
He got buy-in from his players, who embraced the aggressiveness, and he got the miracle kick that bailed him out of the questionable judgment.
“I love it,” quarterback Marcus Mariota said.
Mariota left room for other characteristics, but resiliency was top of mind.
“I think that is what defines this team and it is the culture we are building around here,” Mariota said. “Guys continue to believe in that and continue to believe in the culture Coach Mularkey is instilling. We are on the right path.”
The Titans' willingness to stick with the run game was another giant development. Teams with good running backs and good offensive lines but down two touchdowns often get too far away from the run.
But the Titans ran it 46 percent of the time, which kept them true to who they are, and the run game produced 148 yards and both of their touchdowns.
“I think that’s a compliment to [offensive coordinator Terry] Robiskie,” DeMarco Murray said. “We’re going to run the ball as much as we can, we’re going to just play our game. No matter what the score is, we never look up and say ‘We’re down 20’ or ‘We’re up 20.’
“We’re going to do the things it takes to win and I think Robiskie and Coach Mularkey, they have trust in us as a team to fight, scratch and claw for every yard, every possession and try to make it happen.”
The Titans gave up touchdowns on the Chiefs’ first two possessions. They allowed a second-quarter field goal and nothing else after that, thanks to an impressive goal-line stand and an end zone interception by rookie corner LeShaun Sims.
“It just speaks to the character of this team: We’re resilient,” rookie safety Kevin Byard said. “We don’t waver, we don’t get fazed by anything. When we stay relaxed and stay calm, it usually works out in our favor.”
Jason McCourty has played in 108 games for the Titans since 2009 and Derrick Morgan has played in 89 since joining the team a year later.
McCourty, who left the game after a shoulder injury on his first play, said the victory was probably the biggest one of his NFL career. Morgan rated the win as “top one.”
“We have every chance to get into the playoffs,” McCourty said. “There is no reason it can’t be us.”