Titans Shut Out Cowboys
N A S H V I L L E, Tenn., Dec. 26, 2000 -- The Tennessee Titans didn’t slap
high-fives with fans as they left the field. Most didn’t even
bother to show off their T-shirts and hats commemorating their
first AFC Central title since 1993.
But then the Titans never worried about not making the playoffs.
The Titans secured the AFC’s top seed, a bye week and home-fieldadvantage throughout the playoffs Monday night by beating theDallas Cowboys 31-0 in a game where their defense shined by forcingfour turnovers to finish as the NFL’s best.
“We talked about hitting a peak at the end of the year,”Titans end Kenny Holmes said. “I think we’re starting to peakright now. Hopefully, we’re just getting better every day.”
Defense Stars in Game
The Titans already feature the NFL’s best record at 13-3 andpossibly the toughest home-field advantage in the league atAdelphia Coliseum where they are 16-1 the past two seasons.
“We like our chances at home,” receiver Yancey Thigpen said.“We have a great record at home, and I think the guys really aregoing to work hard to take advantage of it.”
The Titans put on a show in the third quarter, this time withtheir defense.
They led only 7-0 after a first half in which they turned theball over four times, but they made up for it in less than 13minutes.
Linebacker Randall Godfrey forced two fumbles and recovered athird, end Henry Ford fell on a ball and ran 30 yards before divingin for a touchdown, and rookie linebacker Keith Bulluck walked intothe end zone with an 8-yard interception return.
Al Del Greco tacked on a 21-yard field goal that left the Titansup 31-0 with 2:36 left in the third quarter.
“The momentum swung, the crowd got into the game more, and itwas a very merry Christmas in Tennessee,” Bulluck said.
Cowboys Coach Salutes Titans
Granted, Dallas featured Anthony Wright at quarterback in onlyhis second NFL start with Troy Aikman watching on the sidelines.But they had Emmitt Smith in the game with a chance to pass BarrySanders for No. 2 on the career rushing list if he rushed for 124yards.
He got only 20 yards on 12 carries as the Titans, knowing theycould pass the Ravens for honors as the NFL’s stingiest defense,gave up just 95 yards total in their second straight shutout afterbeating the Cleveland Browns 24-0 last week.
Titans safety Blaine Bishop said he has never played with abetter defense. Dallas coach Dave Campo was impressed.
“When they jump into their blitz package, it’s tough, and theyblitzed us all through the game without backing off at all. They’rea very good football team defensively, probably the best defensivefootball team in the league,” Campo said.
The Titans finished with 374 yards of offense and held onto theball in the second half. Steve McNair, who was 17-of-23 for 188yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, left in the thirdquarter after his left ankle became sore.
Titans coach Jeff Fisher also pulled Eddie George in the thirdquarter eight carries short of breaking Jamal Anderson’s NFL recordof 410 carries in a season.
Weak Season for Dallas
The Cowboys had every excuse to give up even before the gamestarted. But they didn’t quit and even tried to jump on the Titanson the opening kickoff with an onsides kick that Michael Wileyrecovered for Dallas.
Not even that helped as Dallas finished off its worst seasonsince 1989 when the Cowboys went 1-15 in Jerry Jones’ first seasonas owner. Smith called it the end of a frustrating season, andJones said they could have had a chance if they had avoided some oftheir injuries.
“That’s not an excuse. It’s a fact,” Jones said. “So I willhave to do some head-scratching and see how we go from here becausewe have some players that my concern is more about their healththan it is frankly about some other team issues.”