It wasn't Buster Douglas vs. Mike Tyson, but the Titans' 28-27 win over the Dolphins on "Monday Night Football" was a shocking upset in its own right. And like Iron Mike three decades earlier, the Dolphins were victims of a whirlwind of body blows by the Titans, who overcame two late turnovers by mounting two late scoring drives.
A 13.5-point underdog, the Titans were down by 14 points with 4:34 to play after two fumbles set up two Raheem Mostert touchdowns. But the Titans responded with two late touchdowns that included Derrick Henry's game-winning score with 1:49 left. Will Levis' successful 2-point conversion to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine following his touchdown pass to DeAndre Hopkins on the Titans' ensuing drive ended up being the deciding point.
The Dolphins' comeback bid ended when Tua Tagovailoa was sacked by Harold Landry on Miami's final play from scrimmage. Miami played large chunks of the game without Tyreek Hill, who sustained an ankle injury in the first half.
Here's a closer look at the NFL's biggest upset win of the year so far.
Really, the Titans were the better team all night. But mistakes nearly cost them the game before Levis engineered two scoring drives in the final five minutes. The second-year quarterback was 7 of 9 for 80 yards on the Titans' first drive that included a 23-yard strike to Westbrook-Ikhine one play before Hopkins' touchdown grab. Levis' 36-yard completion to Hopkins on the Titans' ensuing drive set up Henry's game-winning score.
Levis (who threw for 327 yards on 23 of 38 passing) was money, but the Titans' defense was also lights out. The unit held Miami to 4 of 13 on third down and 2 of 5 in the red zone. Landry had three of the Titans' five sacks of Tagovailoa, who was constantly under duress.
Miami's defense was softer than Teflon late in the game. As was a common theme on the night, Miami allowed too many big plays late in the game while allowing Levis and Co. to pull off the stunning upset. Specifically, the Dolphins were unable to pressure Levis, who was sacked just once.
The Dolphins lost despite fumbles by Levis and cornerback Eric Garror (on a special teams play) that led two Mostert touchdowns. They also received another touchdown off a turnover on Zach Sieler's five-yard pick-six of Levis early in the first quarter. That's 21 points the Dolphins got off turnovers in a losing cause.
Aside from the defense's collapse, Hill's absence was a huge reason for the Dolphins' loss. Without Hill, the Dolphins' offense lacked the big play threat that has become a trademark of their offense.
The game appeared to be a wrap when Mostert scored his second touchdown. But Tyjae Spears kept hope alive when he turned a short Levis pass on second-and-15 into a 21-yard gain with just over three minutes left. The Titans scored three plays later, and the comeback was on.
We're going back to the first half on Levis' 45-yard completion to Hopkins that set up Nick Folk's field goal that gave the Titans a 10-7 lead at intermission. Those points ended up contributing to the Titans' upset.
"He tells me sometimes, 'Hey man, just throw it up to me.' ... Each and every week, I feel like I'm slowly believing that sometimes it is OK just to throw it up to him. ... Glad that we were able to get him the ball as much as he did today." -- Levis on Hopkins, who finished the night with 124 yards on seven grabs
Miami will stay in South Beach and will take on a Jets team that snapped their five-game losing streak after knocking off the Texans this past Sunday. Speaking of the Texans, Tennessee will host Houston this Sunday in a matchup between division rivals.
UNREAL. The Titans were down 14 points with 3 minutes remaining.
After that Titans win ... teams are now 4 - 2,074 down 14+ points in the final 3 minutes in the last 20 seasons. This was the largest upset (Titans were 14 point underdogs) since the Jags upset the Colts in the 2021 reg season finale.
If I'm the Titans, I'm playing Cover 2 and forcing the Dolphins to accept chunk gains. Hill not on the field at the start of the drive.
After the 5-yard Dolphins penalty for delay of game, Derrick Henry punches it in from 3 yards out.
Titans 28, Dolphins 27
Tua Tagovailoa has 1:49 to work with and NO timeouts.
Looks like this game is coming down to red zone efficiency. Titans were 30th in the NFL in red zone efficiency entering tonight's game and are 2-4 tonight. Miami's defense is 27th in the red zone.
Dolphins defense allows Hopkins to run unchecked across the field, and Hopkins makes them pay with a 36 yarder.
Titans get the ball back with 2:15 remaining and 1 timeout at their own 22-yard line. Here we go.
And this is why you don't write your game story early. The Titans make it a game as Levis hits Hopkins for a TD. Titans going for two.
It was a tie game a minute ago!
Raheem Mostert scores his second touchdown in the last two minutes. 27-13 Dolphins with 4:34 remaining.
It's cliche, but this will be a game that the Titans lost just as much as the Dolphins won.
TITANS ARE IMPLODING
Oh no, huge mistake on the Titans' special teams opens the door for the Dolphins to take the lead.
Tua Tagovailoa is sacked on third-and-6 by Harold Landry. But Eric Garror MUFFS the punt! Dolphins recover! Game-changing mistake.
Titans go three-and-out. Looks like Hopkins was open on the third-and-11 off the inside release one-on-one with Xavien Howard who had zero safety help, but Levis was pressured and checked down to Chig for 6 yards.
Hate checking down on third and longs.
Dolphins go 7 plays, 59 yards and Sanders hits a 31-yard field goal. Dolphins red zone offense again fails. 0-3 on the day.
This might be the hardest-hitting game I've seen this season. Not a game for the faint hearted.
What a throw
Sean Murphy-Bunting is injured. Man, he's been picked on all day.
Tyreek's back, and he's making his presence felt with a big catch to get the Dolphins in the red zone. Chants of MVP raining down.
Titans still need to get more from their running game. Henry has just 32 yards on 15 carries. Despite the lack of production, give the Titans credit for sticking to the run. Their run-pass balance so far is almost perfect (25 passes, 24 runs).
12 plays, 60 yards and the 23-yard Nick Folk field goal is good.
TEN 13 MIA 10 with 9 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine's TD catch won't count. Regardless, what a game this has been for Will Levis. He's out-played Tua so far.
It looks like NWI caught a touchdown off the slant, but it looks like he never really caught the ball. You have to catch that!
Levis found Tyjae Spears deep down the field to get Tennessee inside the Miami 10-yard line, but Spears fumbled the ball out of bounds. Wild sequence.
McDaniels threw the challenge flag.
So they're calling that a catch, but Miami is asking the officials are to take a look at this. This looked like a catch to me.
