Countdown to Kickoff: 35 Days

It was not long ago that kicker Ryan Succop made 35 field goals in a single season.

The countdown to kickoff continues.

The Tennessee Titans will open the 2020 regular season Sept. 14 at Denver. That is 35 days away. So, today we look at one way the number 35 figures into the team’s recent history.

In the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world of the NFL, Ryan Succop is one of the Tennessee Titans’ reigning goats.

In 2019, the kicker started and finished the season on injured reserve, and in between he played six games during which he made one of six field goal attempts. It was a disastrous performance overall for the Titans’ kicking game, and Succop was Exhibit A for what went wrong.

Two years earlier, though, Succop nearly set a franchise record when he made 35 field goals. That tied him with Rob Bironas in 2007 for the most during the Titans era (1999-present) and was one shy of the franchise record Al Del Greco set in 1998, the final year of the Tennessee Oilers.

His 136 points tied the franchise record originally set by Del Greco in 1998.

The field goal and point totals were career-highs, by a significant margin for Succop. His previous bests were 28 field goals in 2012 and 118 points in 2013, both with Kansas City.

In 2017, Succop made 10 field goals (on 11 attempts) in the first three weeks as the Titans started 2-1. In early October, he was a perfect 5-for-5 in a victory over Indianapolis and 4-for-5 the next week, capped by a 47-yard game-winner in overtime, against Cleveland.

He made at least one field goal in 15 of the 16 games and capped the campaign with three in each of the final three contests. He did not miss from inside 40 yards (17-for-17) and nearly half his league-leading 42 attempts were from between 40-49 yard (he was 16-for-20).

Tennessee finished that season 9-7 with 10 games decided by a touchdown or less and 24 of Succop’s field goals (68.6 percent) came in victories.