NASHVILLE — The football zipping through the air on a desperation 3rd and 18, Tennessee Titans defensive backs Michael Griffin and Jason McCourty about to break Cincinnati rookie wideout A.J. Green in two, the early moments of Sunday’s fourth quarter at LP Field briefly appeared to signal the end for the former Georgia Bulldog.
Rookie receivers as slender as a No. 2 pencil just aren’t made to absorb such contact. You half expected a disclaimer to appear on the scoreboard: “Too violent for young children. Cover your eyes!”
But then Green somehow found the ball at pretty much the exact same time the bodies of Griffin and McCourty brutally found one another instead of their intended target.
Now the visiting Bengals owned the football at the Titans 7-yard line with a fresh first down. Now Griffin and McCourty could but woozily watch the rest of this crucial contest from the sideline after lying nearly motionless on the field for more than five minutes.
Three plays later, Cincy would turn a 3-point deficit (17-14) into a 21-17 lead on its way to a 24-17 victory, its fifth straight triumph, the franchise’s longest winning streak in 23 years.