I have to admit the Cowboys had me worried for a while there. For a few quarters, the Titans were looking like an actual threat. Not only was Vince Young getting his first NFL start, the game was in Nashville, and LenDale White was even guaranteed some playing time. That was all Dallas needed going into the game – two hungry rookies fighting for respect and position in front of a home crowd – especially this week, after the unique public relations dilemma that was that one guy who did some things. You may remember it from the front page of every newspaper in the state.
It really looked like the Cowboys were in trouble for awhile, and fans couldn’t really rest easy until the second half when the boning really began. With the final score at 45-14, it’s easy to forget the teams hit the locker rooms at halftime with the score 14-6, and it was actually the Titans who had the momentum.
But Tennessee is Tennessee, no matter who the quarterback is. I stand by my opinion that Vince Young was the best quarterback in this year’s draft class, but if the Titans don’t improve in basically every other area, we may never know.
This game is being pitched as T.O.’s triumphant return from whatever the hell he was doing last week, but don’t believe it. This game was about Julius Jones and Terry Glenn. You could argue that Owens did as much harm as good. He caught a few first-down passes, but he also got an offensive pass interference call and dropped a pass in the end zone. In the end, obviously, those things made no difference, but you have to assume the score would’ve been close to the same if he’d sat the week out.
The highlight/low point of the game for me was Titans’ defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth’s tap dance on Cowboys center Andre Gurode’s head. Everybody else saw that, right? To me, it looked like Haynesworth first kicked Gurode’s helmet away, which just adds layers to the bat-shit insanity of it all.
Everybody’s saying how stupid Haynesworth was, but I’m not so sure. He’s reportedly more or less encouraging the NFL to suspend him for the season. If he gets to sit out the rest of this season, which is looking to be a race with Oakland for the first draft pick, this may become a trend. A few more 45-14 games, and you may see Titans stomping on their own grandmothers to get off the team.
And then you can forget allergic reactions to painkillers, T.O., grandma-stomping is the new way to make headlines.
This article appears in September 29 • 2006.