Saints 21 Titans 24 The Saints squandered yet another fourth quarter lead in a home loss to Tennessee. The first five minutes of the game contained three punts. The Titans launched the first threat of the day with a 40 yd run by Eddie George that put the ball at the NO 27, but Ashley Ambrose's fourth interception of the season killed the drive. A pair of 3 & punts later, the Saints picked up 41 yds via a pass interference penalty on a Keith Poole deep route. The team eased its way to the 4 yardline but had to settle for a FG. With nine seconds left in the first quarter, the Saints were up 3-0. The Titans went 3 & punt. Billy Joe Tolliver fumbled a snap away to Tennessee, but a couple of plays later Troy Wilson hit O'Donnell and knocked the ball loose; La'Roi Glover recovered it. The Saints made it to midfield before punting; Alex Molden intercepted a throw at the Titan 19. On 3rd & goal from the 10, Tolliver hit Slutzker for a TD. With 4:27 to go before halftime, the Saints led 10-0. O'Donnell completed his first pass (to a Titan) with a 17 yd throw to Dyson. Two plays later he hit Mason with a 31 yd toss. The visitors came up empty, though, when Del Greco missed from 42 yds out. The Saints quickly revisited Tennessee territory with a throw down the middle to Slutzker good for 42 yds. A pass interference penalty set up the team at the 1 yardline with :12 on the clock and no timeouts. An up-the-middle Ricky Williams run failed to break the goalline, and the clock expired (after the game, Ditka said that the play call was a screw-up; the play was supposed to have been a pass). To start the second half, the Titans completed an 11 play, 74 yd, 7:02 TD drive (Eddie George contributed most of the yds; Lorenzo Neal scored the points via a 4 yd reception). Passes to Cam Cleeland, Aaron Craver, and Andre Hastings put the Saints deep into Tennessee territory, but Ricky fumbled at the Titan 12; the visitors recovered at the 1. The D prevented Tennessee from getting out of the hole; the resulting good field position led to a 42 yd FG and a 13-7 Saints lead. The Titans successfully completed a TD drive rather similar to their earlier one- 11 plays, 74 yds, about 7 minutes long, with half the yds supplied by Eddie George. This time the score came on an 11 yd catch by Dyson. The PAT put Tennessee on top. The Saints went 3 & punt; the Titans did likewise. On 1st & 10 at the NO 19, a Titan defensive lineman dropped back into coverage and picked off an attempted slant to Poole. Tennessee converted the turnover into a FG. On the next play from scrimmage, Tolliver was intercepted again, and this time the ball was returned for a TD. With less than 3 minutes remaining, it was 24-13 Titans. Tennessee gave the Saints some short stuff underneath, and ultimately the team managed to break its streak of scoreless fourth quarters, via a 4 yd Lamar Smith catch. A catch by Brett Bech converted the 2-point try; with 45 seconds left the Saints were down 3. Doug Brien executed a perfect onside kick- the desired chaos ensued. Unfortunately for the Saints, the ball ended up in the hands of a Titan after a mad scramble. "Kneel" O'Donnell drained the clock. stats (view with a fixed-width font, like Courier) ^^^^^ runnin'........../..........passin' & catchin' 2- 4 B.J. Tolliver 17- 35 Ricky Williams 2- 16 Lamar Smith 2- 9-1 Aaron Craver 4- 22 Eddie Kennison 7- 94 Keith Poole 2- 25 Andre Hastings 1- 42 Brett Bech 1- 15 Cameron Cleeland 7- 84 Scott Slutzker 4- 63-1 21- 55 TOTAL 28-354-2 inc 15 INT 2 runnin'........../..........passin' & catchin' 2- 6 N. O'Donnell 28-155 Eddie George 1- 12 1- 3 Rodney Thomas Lorenzo Neal 3- 15-1 1- 3 Kevin Dyson 3- 41-1 Chris Sanders 2- 16 Derrick Mason 1- 31 Isaac Byrd 1- 4 Frank Wycheck 1- 5 32-167 TOTAL 12-124-2 inc 11 INT 2 notes ^^^^^ * the Saints came out in a no-huddle offense * while walking off the field, Ditka responded to some jeering fans by grabbing his crotch; I can't believe I missed getting it on tape (I was only a few yds away at the time) ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu