Ed Zurga/AP
The Tennessee Titans pulled off a stunning upset on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, 19-17, after Andy Reid’s decision to ice the Titans came back to bite him.
With five seconds remaining in the 4th quarter, the Titans lined up for a 53-yard attempt. The conditions were windy and freezing from Arrowhead, and Titans’ kicker Ryan Succop pushed the kick wide right. Game over — or so it seemed.
The problem was that Reid had called timeout in an attempt to ice Succop. Instead, the timeout effectively turned Succop’s miss into a practice attempt. On his second effort, Succop drilled it. Game over, Titans win.
Ryan. Succop. For. The. WIN. #TitanUphttps://t.co/K93P72DgaM
— NFL (@NFL) December 18, 2016
“Listen,” Reid said after the game. “t didn’t work so I mean that one can go, I can do better on that. It backfired so.”
Titans coach Mike Mularkey literally broke down in tears after the second kick went through.
As we’ve seen over and over, there are no stats to back up the theory that icing the kicker helps the defense. If anything, it helps the kicker because it gives him a free practice kick.
With the win, the Titans improved to 8-6 and stay alive in the AFC South playoff race. The Chiefs, meanwhile, are 10-4 and could drop out of first place in the AFC West and into a wild card spot with an Oakland win.
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