Tennessee Titans (5-3) at Miami Dolphins (4-4)
Sunday, November 14th, 2010 • Noon CST • Sun Life Stadium • Miami Gardens, FL • TV: CBS
Nashville, TN – The Tennessee Titans (5-3) return from their bye this week with a trip to Miami to face the Dolphins (4-4). Kickoff at Sun Life Stadium (capacity 75,192) is scheduled for noon CST on Sunday, November 14th.
The Titans have won their first game after their bye in each of the last four seasons. Under head coach Jeff Fisher, the team is 9-6 all-time in post-bye contests.
The Titans are 15-17 all-time against the Dolphins, including a 27-24 overtime win on December 20th last year at LP Field. In that game, the Titans took an 18-point lead in the second half, but the Dolphins came back to tie the game 24-24 in the the final two minutes of regulation. However, an interception by Titans safety Michael Griffin in overtime led to a game-winning 46-yard field goal by Rob Bironas.
The Broadcast
This week’s game will be televised regionally on CBS, including Nashville affiliate WTVF News-Channel 5. Ian Eagle will handle play-by-play duties, while Dan Fouts will provide analysis.
The Titans Radio Network, including Nashville flagship 104.5 The Zone, will broadcast the game across the Mid-South with the “Voice of the Titans” Mike Keith, analyst Frank Wycheck, sideline reporter Cody Allison and gameday host Larry Stone.
Additionally, Westwood One Radio Sports will carry the national radio broadcast. Howard David (play-by-play) and Tony Boselli (analyst) will provide the call.
The game can be heard locally on 1400 AM, WJZM.
Table Set For Second Half Of Season
Before their bye, the Titans traveled to San Diego (October 31st) and lost to the Chargers by a final score of 33-25. Quarterback Vince Young passed for a season-high 253 passing yards and two touchdowns before leaving the contest in the fourth quarter with a left ankle injury. Kerry Collins played in relief of Young, who initially injured the same ankle October 18th.
Despite the loss, the 5-3 Titans are in a tie with the Indianapolis Colts for first place in the closely contested AFC South, the NFL’s only division with all four teams at .500 or better. The Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans are one game behind the Titans and Colts at 4-4. Over the next eight weeks, the Titans will play five total games against the Colts, Jaguars and Texans. Their only divisional game to date was a win at Jacksonville on October 18th.
The Titans enter this week as the highest scoring team in the NFL. They are averaging 28.0 points per game and have the league’s best scoring differential (9.3 points per game). Young is second in the NFL with a 103.1 passer rating, while running back Chris Johnson’s 721 rushing yards rank fifth. The Titans have forced 19 turnovers, which is tied for second in the league, and they have the NFL’s stingiest red-zone defense (28.6 touchdown percentage).
The Dolphins
While the Titans rested, the Dolphins dropped a 26-10 decision last week at Baltimore. Quarterback Chad Henne completed 22 of 34 passes for 231 yards, but he was victimized three times by interceptions. Miami’s only touchdown came on a 12-yard run by running back Ronnie Brown. The Ravens totaled 402 yards and held the ball for over 38 minutes.
The Dolphins, led by third-year head coach Tony Sparano, currently sit in third place in the AFC East behind the New England Patriots and New York Jets, who are tied at 6-2.
Titans Acquire Moss
During the bye week, the Titans were awarded wide receiver Randy Moss off waivers from the Minnesota Vikings. Moss, who is eligible to play this week at Miami, is in his 13th NFL season. Originally a first-round draft choice (21st overall) by the Vikings in 1998, he spent his first seven NFL campaigns in Minnesota (1998-04). He went to the Oakland Raiders for the 2005 and 2006 seasons and then spent three-plus seasons with the New England Patriots (2007-10). In 2010, Moss played four games with the Patriots before being dealt to the Vikings on October 6th. He was waived November 2nd.
Moss is among the NFL’s all-time leaders in several statistical categories, ranking ninth in receptions (948) and fifth in receiving yards (14,778). Furthermore, only one other player, Jerry Rice (197), has recorded more career receiving touchdowns than Moss, who has 153.
Titans-Dolphins Series At A Glance
- Overall series (regular & postseason): Dolphins lead 17-15
- Regular Season Series: Dolphins lead 17-14
- Postseason Series: Titans lead 1-0
- Current streak: One win by Titans
- Titans at home vs. Dolphins: 8-7
- Titans on the road vs. Dolphins: 7-10
- Last Time at LP Field: Dolphins 24 at Titans 27 (OT) (12/20/09)
- Last Time at Sun Life Stadium: Titans 10 at Dolphins 13 (9/24/06)
- First Time: Dolphins 20 at Houston Oilers 13 (10/23/66)
- Jeff Fisher’s Record vs. Dolphins: 3-6
- Tony Sparano’s Record vs. Titans: 0-1
- Jeff Fisher’s Record vs. Tony Sparano: 1-0
What To Look For This Week
- K Rob Bironas has a current streak of 18 consecutive games with at least one field goal, the second-longest streak in team history. Bironas holds the club record with a field goal in 19 consecutive games from 2006-07.
- QB Kerry Collins needs three touchdown passes to become the 31st player in NFL history to reach 200 career touchdown passes.
- RB Chris Johnson will attempt to record his 21st career 100-yard rushing game and his fifth of 2010.
- RB Chris Johnson needs 45 rushing yards to become the fourth player in franchise history to reach 4,000 career rushing yards, joining Eddie George, Earl Campbell and Lorenzo White. If Johnson reaches the 4,000-yard mark this week, he will do so in his 40th career game.
- RB Chris Johnson needs 125 rushing yards to pass Lorenzo White (4,079 yards) for third place on the team’s all-time rushing list.
- WR Randy Moss is eligible to make his debut in a Titans uniform. Moss (948 career receptions) needs three receptions to tie Andre Reed (951) for eighth in NFL history. With a touchdown reception, Moss will become the first player in NFL history to catch a touchdown pass with three different teams in a single season.
Titans-Dolphins Series History
This week the Titans and Dolphins will renew a rivalry that began in 1966, when the Dolphins entered the American Football League. The Titans are 15-17 all-time against Miami, including a playoff victory in 1978.
The Titans played the Dolphins in four consecutive seasons from 2003-06. In the 2003 game (November 9th), the Titans won convicingly, 31-7, to break a five-game losing streak to the Dolphins. The clubs then met in the 2004 season opener (September 11th), a 17-9 Titans victory in Miami that was played on a Saturday rather than Sunday due to the impending landfall of Hurricane Ivan. In 2005, the Dolphins won by a final score of 24-10 on Christmas Eve.
The Titans’ most recent trip to Sun Life Stadium (then Dolphin Stadium) was in the third week of the 2006 campaign (September 24th). The Titans outgained the Dolphins in total yardage but were unable to overcome three costly turnovers. Miami won 13-10 despite 269 passing yards by Kerry Collins and six sacks from the defense. It was the final game Collins would start that season, as rookie Vince Young would be in the lineup the remaining 13 weeks.
On December 20th, 2009, the Titans defeated the Dolphins 27-24 in overtime at LP Field. Michael Griffin’s interception set up Rob Bironas’ 46-yard field goal to win the game. Earlier, the Dolphins came back from 18 points down in the second half to tie the score at 24-24 in the final two minutes of regulation.
The Dolphins began play in 1966 as the American Football League’s first expansion franchise. Playing the Dolphins twice a year from 1966-69, the Oilers won five of eight games before 1970, when the Oilers moved to the newly-formed AFC Central Division and the Dolphins began play in the AFC East.
The teams have played in the postseason just once. In 1978, the Oilers defeated the Dolphins 17-9 at the Orange Bowl for Houston’s first playoff win since 1961. The Oilers continued their postseason play on the road, winning at New England before falling to Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship Game. Earlier in the 1978 season, the Oilers and the Dolphins were featured in a memorable Monday Night game, a 35-30 Oilers win that included four rushing touchdowns by Earl Campbell.
