Rob Bironas booted a 40-yard field goal on the final play of the game to give the Tennessee Titans a 26-23 upset win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Nashville on Thursday. Veteran quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, making his second start for injured Jake Locker, completed 25-of-44 passes for 290-yards and one touchdown, but drew on all his experience with the game on the line.
After the Steelers Shaun Suisham missed on what would have been a career-best 54-yard field goal, Hasselbeck went to work with 49 seconds on the clock and marched the Titans 34-yards, well inside Bironas’s range for a shot at the winning kick.
The victory was just the second of the season for the Titans (2-4) while the injury-ravaged Steelers remained winless on the road in falling to 2-3.
Photo: AFP
“Everyone believed in what we were doing,” 37-year-old Hasselbeck, the second oldest quarterback in the National Football League this season, told reporters. “We knew we had plays there to make, we just had to go do it and not make excuses. It wasn’t about the Steelers, they are a good team, it was just about us. We’re struggling, we weren’t doing our assignments, we had mental errors, we were losing the turnover battle. We just needed to fix it. We were really sloppy, we still made mistakes but it feels really good to come away with the win.”
After trading short field goals off their opening drives, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hooked up with Mike Wallace on an 82-yard touchdown pass to put the Steelers 10-3 ahead.
Roethlisberger completed 24-of-40 passes for 363-yards to move past Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw as the Steelers all-time passing yardage leader.
However, the rest of the half belonged to the Titans, Bironas connecting on a 38-yard field goal before Jamie Harper turned a blocked punt into Tennessee’s first rushing touchdown of the season, bulling his way into the endzone from the one-yard-line.
The Titans capped off an impressive opening half, converting a Roethlisberger interception into another 47-yard Bironas field goal to send the home side into the intermission 16-10 up.
Pittsburgh opened the second half by scoring on a Suisham 28-yard field goal then followed up with a with an 80-yard drive capped by a one-yard plunge by Baron Batch.
Suisham equaled a career-best with 52-yard field goal to push the Steelers ahead 23-16 early in the fourth quarter before the Titans offense finally clicked, Hasselbeck finding Kenny Britt with a five-yard touchdown strike to level the contest.
“We worked to get this one,” said Britt, who had four catches for 62 yards. “We got confidence in our kicker and I knew he was going to pull it out.”
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care