 No chance. Those two words have been spoken very rarely when it comes to the Tennessee Titans as they have prepared to face opponents. On those handful of occasions when it has occurred over the past 25 years, uttering those two words has been incredibly painful. Unfortunately, no chance seemed to be perfectly appropriate as a rookie head coach prepared for his first game in Nissan Stadium. No chance was the Titans supposed shot that Sunday, but the final result, a huge shock, and it signaled a lot of good football to come. In the 25-year history of the Tennessee Titans, very rarely had they entered a game when people thought they had no chance. Sure, they had been underdogs, but no chance? Almost never has it happened, but on September 16th, 2018, as Tennessee hosted the Houston Texans in Mike Vrabel's second game as Titans head coach, most experts gave them no chance. The Texans were heavy favorites to win the AFC South and they were catching a Titans team that had just played the longest game in NFL history. The seven-hour eight-minute ordeal in Miami would not only produce a defeat, but would see the Titans lose their quarterback, star tight end, and left tackle. That meant no Taylor Lawan, and also no Jack Conklin at tackle against Houston as Conklin was already sidelined. And by week's end, another kick in the teeth. Bruised and battered Tennessee would lose another offensive tackle, Dennis Kelly, to illness. So can you remember who the Titans started an offensive tackle against J.J. Watt in company without Lawan, Conklin, and Kelly? Good luck. Ooh. Oh gosh. Okay, let me see. Ooh, that's a good, I cannot remember who those were. I'm gonna be honest, I couldn't even guess. That's a great, I do not know. The correct answer is Kevin Pomfield and Tyler Merritts. Honest reaction. Let me look through my roll of dicks. See, that's the way back machine, Mr. Peabody. Okay, I, yeah, wow. How in the world did they do what they did? Wow, yeah, I wouldn't have got those. Mike Brable knew he had the grab points and momentum early in this game and he started with special teams. Titans snap it directly to Byrd. He throws to Cruikshank, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, five. It's a... The Kevin Byrd to Dane Cruikshank touchdown electrified the crowd, but those seven points would not be enough. On Friday, less than 48 hours before the game, Brable went to then offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur and challenged the future Green Bay Packers head coach to come up with anything to potentially steal some points. LaFleur then asked Derek Henry to go back to his days at Uly High School and take the direct snap from center and it worked. The king cat was born that day as Henry took the Titans into Texan's territory and then turned it over to Blaine Gabbard to throw a touchdown pass to Tay Juan Taylor. As the first quarter ended, the Titans led 14 to nothing. You may remember that and you may remember that the Titans won the game, but here's what you don't remember. The Titans did nothing offensively over the next two quarters. The Sean Watson had the Texans in front 17 to 14 with 13 minutes left in the game. The fairy tale start had become the expected story of the day. No chance, but someone failed to tell the Titans. Gabbard and company crafted a 51 yard drive that allowed Brian Suckup to tie the score. The defense got the ball back and Gabbard picked up where he left off hitting Corey Davis twice for nice gains. Henry pounded the ball and ate the clock and Suckup gave the Titans the lead with one minute left. For Mike Grable, it was his first win as Titans head coach and it was a defining moment. One most impressive I believe I've seen and I've seen about 700 NFL games coach for 31 years. I remember thinking initially, wow, they've got a really good group of coaches here because it seems like the coaches were the ones that schemed to win that game. The talent on the field didn't reflect their best because of the injuries that you just mentioned. I just remember thinking that this coaching staff knows what it's doing and here's a prime example of that. By all rights, the Tennessee Titans should not have beaten the Houston Texans that day. On paper, they had no chance. Everyone said they had no chance, but someone forgot to tell Mike Grable and the Titans.