Countdown to Kickoff: 46 Days

The countdown to kickoff continues.

The Tennessee Titans will open the 2020 regular season Sept. 14 at Denver. That is 46 days away. So, today we look at one way the number 46 figures into the team’s recent history.

It is not often that two players from the same team rush for more than 100 yards in the same game.

Chris Johnson and LenDale White did it. Twice. In just over a month.

The second time – and the most recent in franchise history – was Nov. 27, 2008 at Detroit, a game in which the Titans ran up the score with 46 running plays. It was the last time Tennessee played on Thanksgiving and the result was a 47-10 victory. Coincidentally, the Lions offense had the ball for just 46 total plays.

In the Titans era (1999-present), there have been just five games in which Tennessee’s offense handed off the ball more often.

Johnson, a rookie that season, racked up 125 yards on 16 carries against the Lions. White added 106 yards on 23 attempts. Each scored two rushing touchdowns.

Fullback Quinton Ganther (three), wide receiver Brandon Jones (one) and quarterbacks Vince Young (two) and Kerry Collins (one) also contributed to the 46 rushes, which produced 292 rushing yards, the franchise’s third-highest total over the past 21 seasons.

Six weeks earlier, Johnson had 168 yards on 18 carries and White rolled to 149 yards on 17 carries in the triumph at Kansas City. Since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger there have been only two other games in which the franchise had a pair of 100-yard rushers, one in 1975 and one in 1977 when it was known as the Houston Oilers.

Despite the big performances, the Titans only ranked seventh in the NFL in rushing offense in 2008. However, White and Johnson earned the singular nickname “Thunder and Lightning” and showcased just what they could do together in a nationally televised game on a day closely associated with football.