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Turron Davenport, ESPN
MIAMI GARDENS — The Tennessee Titans pulled off a stunner against the Dolphins on “Monday Night Football,” rallying from a 14-point deficit in the game’s closing minutes to knock Miami from the top spot in the AFC.
Rookie quarterback Will Levis was a big part of the comeback, leading the Titans on two touchdown drives in the final 4½ minutes to secure the improbable 28-27 victory.
Levis threw for a career-high 327 passing yards, becoming the first rookie to throw for 300 yards on “Monday Night Football.”
“I was just sticking to the game plan,” Levis said. “Throwing to the open guy, trusting that I didn’t necessarily need to be forcing anything. That happy medium of pushing it down the field but throwing to the open guy.”
Tennessee was a 13.5-point underdog, making its win the third-largest upset in “Monday Night Football” history.
“Earlier in the week we were scheduled to lose by 25 points,” Titans pass-rusher Arden Key said. “Nobody thought we were going to win. Everybody thought it would be another Miami vs. Broncos type thing and they’d put up 70 points on us.”
According to Elias Sports Bureau research, the Titans are the first team to win a game in regulation after trailing by 14 or more points with less than three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter since the Raiders on September 12, 1976, against Pittsburgh (trailed 28-14, won 31-28).
Entering this week, the Dolphins’ red zone offense was scoring touchdowns on an NFL-best 75% of its visits inside the 20-yard line. Tennessee’s top-ranked red zone defense allowed only two touchdowns on five Dolphins red zone visits, with each of them reaching inside the Titans’ 10-yard line.
“We’ve got to get more than three points in the red zone,” Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill said. “Because every point matters, especially in situations like this, going against a real good team like that.”
Levis, a second-round draft pick making his sixth career start, led a nine-play, 75-yard drive that took 1:54 off the clock, capping it with a 3-yard touchdown pass to DeAndre Hopkins and a 2-point conversion throw to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.
With 2:40 left in the game after Hopkins’ TD, ESPN Analytics gave the Titans a 4.8% chance to win if they attempted the PAT — but that bumped up to 6.2% by trying for the 2-point conversion, a clear “go for 2” situation.
“I think that’s just in the research we’ve done and analytics to give you the best chance to win in regulation,” coach Mike Vrabel said. “You go for 2 there. I liked the call. That’s how it goes.”
The Titans got a stop, and Levis hit Hopkins for 28 yards and Chigoziem Okonkwo for 16 yards to get into scoring position. Derrick Henry scored on a 3-yard rush, and the extra point gave the Titans a one-point lead.
ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
