Countdown to Kickoff: 32 Days
The countdown to kickoff continues.
The Tennessee Titans will open the 2020 regular season Sept. 14 at Denver. That is 32 days away. So, today we look at one way the number 32 figures into the team’s recent history.
It is one thing for a receiver to pile up yards in a loss. Often, teams throw an inordinate amount of time in an attempt to catch up.
It is something different – difference-making even – when it happens in a victory.
There have been 32 times since the start of the 1999 season when a member of the Tennessee Titans exceeded 100 yards in a game they won.
In large measure (for the Titans, at least), it is a glimpse into what might have been.
First-round picks Kenny Britt (2009) and Kendall Wright (2012) each topped 100 receiving yards three times in victories, and Britt’s 225 yards with three touchdown catches against Philadelphia in 2010 ranks as Tennessee’s top receiving performance in a triumph. Neither, however, were consistently productive enough and both were allowed to become free agents when their rookie contracts expired.
Another first-round pick, Corey Davis, has done it just twice in his first three seasons.
Conversely, A.J. Brown (pictured), a second-round pick who was a revelation as a rookie, topped 100 receiving yards in three of last season’s nine triumphs.
In all, 17 different players have had 101 receiving yards or more in a victory. That group includes such notable names as Derrick Mason (five times, which tops the list) and Nate Washington (three times). It also includes Justin Hunter and Dorial Green-Beckham, second-round picks who never lived up to expectations, as well as two tight ends Delanie Walker and Jared Cook (once each) as well as running back Chris Brown, who turned three catches into 105 yards in a 2005 victory against San Francisco.
The performances typically were part of good days for the offense overall. In all but one case, the Titans scored at last 20 points and 18 they scored 30 or more.
