The Tennessee Titans didn’t play well on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. Far from it, in fact. But late in the fourth quarter, Mike Vrabel’s team had a chance of pulling off a stunning comeback win on the road.
There’s just one problem: Vrabel was far too obsessed with playing the percentages rather than trusting his offense to win the game in the final few moments. Just before the two-minute warning, the Titans found themselves with a fourth-and-6 on the Saints’ 11-yard line while down 16-12.
Instead of hoping Ryan Tannehill could complete a pass and maybe even get a dagger touchdown, Vrabel settled for a Nick Folk field goal, trusting his defense way too much. Tennessee would not get the ball back, and it fell to 0-1 on the season after a 16-15 loss. But hey, at least Folk kicked five field goals or something. Right? (Oof.)
Titans kick on 4th-and-6 with 2:20 left at Saints 11.
WP Go: 33.0%
WP Kick: 23.7%A massive, massive error according to our model.
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) September 10, 2023
Naturally, NFL fans took Vrabel to task for trusting his kicker and defense more than his offense when he had a legitimate chance to win the game first.
This was how Twitter reacted to Vrabel's awful field goal decision.
Mike Vrabel explaining why he kicked a field goal down 4 in a close game pic.twitter.com/7DhgNfcdP9
— . (@ClaxFanatic) September 10, 2023
You knew the Titans would lose when Mike Vrabel chose to kick the field goal instead of going for it on 4th down. Completely deserve that. Play to win the game.
— Billy Howell (@CoachBilly1) September 10, 2023
Mike vrabel kicking a FG with 2 minutes left down 4 while at the 12 yard line is wild 😂
— g (@lmGuee) September 10, 2023
Mike Vrabel can't get a pass anymore. That was pathetic 😒
Must win Week 2 against the Chargers
— Mr. Bradley (@thatguyjordan18) September 10, 2023
Mike Vrabel had Tennessee +3 there's no other way
— aedizzy (@aedizzy) September 10, 2023
Mike Vrabel gets the cover.
Well done, Coach.
— Thomas Casale (@TheTomCasale) September 10, 2023
I'd like to extend my sincere thanks to Mike Vrabel for that undefeated 1pm slate
— JBC (@JBC69) September 10, 2023
Someone check Mike Vrabel’s betslip after that FG decision
— sweatinbets (@sweatinbets) September 10, 2023
Literally died inside when they kicked this field goal https://t.co/x3hiISuxJf
— Ryan McCrary (@TheRyanMcCrary) September 10, 2023
