A big swing happened midway through the third quarter, once again with both sides of the ball stepping up.
With the Ravens with a 4th and 1 at the Tennessee 18-yard line, the Titans stuffed them. Linebacker Harold Landry was credited with the stop on a play when the Titans swarmed Jackson.
The Titans then produced a touchdown in an improbable way – a three-yard jump pass from Henry to receiver Corey Davis. Henry took the snap on the play, and found Davis breaking free in the back of the end zone. The touchdown was set up by a 66-yard run by Henry, and the score capped a six-play, 81-yard drive.
“A pretty good pass from D-Hen, huh?,” Davis said. “All I had to do was catch it.”
Then came another one-two punch, with the defense setting the table for the offense. Casey sacked Jackson, and he stripped the ball from his grasp in the process. Defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons jumped on the loose ball, and the Titans were in business.
Before long, they were back in the end zone on a one-yard touchdown run by Tannehill, which made it 28-6 with 4:16 left in the third quarter.
The Ravens cut the lead to 28-12 on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Jackson to tight end Hayden Hurst with 11:04 left in the game.
But the Titans refused to be denied, as the put the game away down the stretch. Casey had two sacks in the game, and the Titans made it tough on Jackson, the favorite to win the NFL’s MVP trophy, all night.
“It was fun,” Tannehill said. “After a big win like this in the playoffs, everyone dancing, having a good time, it’s something I’ll always remember. It was a special moment.”
The Titans beat the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots to advance to last night’s AFC Divisional Round. Now, the top-seeded Ravens are done.
But the work for the Titans isn’t over.
“We can celebrate tonight, but it’s all about winning the Super Bowl,” Byard said. “None of this is going to mean anything unless we go and win the Super Bowl. That is our mentality now, to go and win the Super Bowl.”
