Titans coach has rare humanizing moment after rollercoaster win over Patriots
Tennessee stopped the bleeding.
NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans (2-6) have been in a tailspin this season. Sunday's 20-17 overtime win against the New England Patriots (2-7) washed over first-year coach Brian Callahan during his postgame press conference.
Callahan choked up.
Brian Callahan, Titans Needed A Win
Just how badly did you guys need this today?
"I mean, look at me," Callahan joked. "I needed it bad man. It was a—yeah, we needed it."
Titans fans have likely never identified more with a response.
Winning has been nearly impossible for Tennessee in Callahan's rookie season. Even against New England, who made life a living Hell as the visiting team on Sunday, the Titans won despite their best efforts. Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson capped an 11-play, 50-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown reception to send the game to overtime.
Tensions were high at Nissan Stadium.
Winning the overtime coin toss was an advantage. Driving down the field with back-up quarterback Mason Rudolph and Pollard pouring it on, Tennessee looked like it might be capable to scoring a touchdown to end the game. Even that could not be easy, though, Rudolph and back-up center Corey Levin had a botched exchange that the Titans were fortunate to recover. Settling for a field goal and letting rookie quarterback Drake Maye try to drive the length of the field to score was the solution.
Amani Hooker made his second interception of the day to snuff out New England's chances.
No victory in the NFL comes easy, but Callahan's Titans have made it look particularly hard this year. The staff was starting to wear it on their faces. Players maintained positive attitudes through the palpable frustrations that so much losing without answers brings.
Beating the Patriots might not cure Tennessee of all its issues.
It can simply stop the bleeding.
"He puts his heart and soul in this and everything's a first time for him and it's—I can only imagine what he's got to juggle with calling plays and doing a good job at it," said Rudolph. "Calling plays and being present for the defense situational on both sides of the ball. He needs to have a cold one to night to enjoy himself, to take the edge off because it's a lot. I mean, I know there's—plenty of coaches to do that week in, week out. And I think he's done a great job. But it did mean more."
Callahan's emotions are understandable, but also will factor into the evaluation of he and his staff moving forward.
Take a deep breath, enjoy the win, but steel yourself for the sake of you and your team. Any proof of concept matters as this team tries to finally establish an identity for itself after being lost for the first month and a half of this season.
Now, go out there and do it again.
Featured Image: USA TODAY Sports.
