Tennessee Titans (1-2) vs. Minnesota Vikings (4-0)
Thursday, September 3rd, 2015 | 7:00pm CDT
Nashville, TN | Nissan Stadium | TV: WKRN
Nashville, TN – The Tennessee Titans (1-2) close their 2015 preseason schedule this week at home against the Minnesota Vikings (4-0). Kickoff at Nissan Stadium (capacity 69,143) is scheduled for 7:00pm CDT on Thursday, September 3rd.
The game will be televised regionally on the Titans Preseason TV Network, including flagship WKRN-News 2 in Nashville. Play-by-play announcer Cory Curtis and analyst Eddie George will call the action, while Dawn Davenport will report from the sidelines.
The Tennessee Titans
One final tune-up is all that remains prior to the Titans’ regular season opener at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, September 13th. They hope to end the preseason on a winning note after dropping two of their first three exhibitions.
The Titans traveled to the Kansas City Chiefs last week and fell by a final score of 34-10. They scored on a two-yard touchdown run by Antonio Andrews and a 34-yard field goal by Ryan Succop, but they were unable to match the pace of the Chiefs, who scored on their first three drives of each half.
Titans rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota saw his most extensive action through three preseason games, playing the entire first half along with the majority of the starters. He was 7-of-11 passing for 99 yards against the Chiefs, and he added another 22 yards on three rushing attempts. With one game to go in the preseason, Mariota is completing more than 70 percent of his passes.
He is 19-of-27 for 252 yards with a passer rating of 84.2, and in 10 total drives commanding the offense, he has passed for at least one first down eight times. His 51.9 percent of passes resulting in first downs leads all rookies and ranks second in the NFL among all quarterbacks with at least 20 attempts (Colt McCoy, 54.2).
Players placed on reserve lists such as Injured Reserve, Physically Unable to Perform and Reserve/Suspended do not count towards the 53-man active roster limit. After the final cut down, a 10-player practice squad may be established as early as noon CDT on September 6th.
One week later, the Titans kick off their regular season schedule against the Buccaneers, and they remain on the road in Week 2 against the Cleveland Browns. The home opener is scheduled for September 27th versus the Indianapolis Colts.
The Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings are off to a 4-0 start to the preseason. They beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame game and then defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders consecutively at home. Last week they went to Dallas and came away with a 28-14 victory over the Cowboys.
The Vikings are entering their second campaign under Mike Zimmer, a longtime NFL defensive assistant who was named head coach in January 2014. In his first season with Minnesota, Zimmer helped the Vikings defense go from last in the NFL to 13th in offensive points allowed, and the pass defense improved from 31st to seventh in the league. The 2014 Vikings finished with a 7-9 record.
Much of the optimism in the North Star State centers around second-year quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. As a rookie in 2014, the former Louisville signal caller earned a 6-6 record as a starter and set virtually every franchise rookie passing record.
Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson has yet to play this preseason. Entering his ninth season, the 2012 NFL MVP leads the league in rushing yards (10,190) and rushing touchdowns (86) since the start of his rookie season despite missing all but one contest in 2014.
Titans-Vikings Series At A Glance
- Overall series (regular & postseason): Vikings lead series 8-4
- Regular season series: Vikings lead series 8-4
- Postseason series: None
- Total points: Titans 188, Vikings 320
- Current streak: One win by Vikings
- Titans at home vs. Vikings: 3-1
- Titans on the road vs. Vikings: 1-7
- Longest winning streak by Titans: 1 (last 2008)
- Longest losing streak by Titans: 4 (1995-04)
- Titans vs. Vikings at Nissan Stadium: 1-0
- Last time at Nissan Stadium: Vikings 17 at TITANS 30 (9-28-08)
- Titans vs. Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium: 0-0
- Titans vs. Vikings at Mall of America Field: 1-6
- Last Time at Mall of America Field: Titans 7 at VIKINGS 30 (10-7-12)
- First Time: Oilers 10 at VIKINGS 51 (10-13-74)
- Ken Whisenhunt’s Record vs. Vikings: 1-4
- Mike Zimmer’s Record vs. Titans: 0-0
- Ken Whisenhunt’s Record vs. Mike Zimmer: 0-0
Titans-Vikings Preseason Series
- Preseason series: Vikings lead 6-1
- Last time in preseason: VIKINGS 19 at Titans 3 (8-28-14)
A Titans Victory Would
Improve Ken Whisenhunt’s career record in the preseason to 12-22.
Give the Titans an all-time preseason record at Nissan Stadium of 25-9.
Give the Titans a 2-6 all-time preseason record against the Vikings.
Titans-Vikings Series History
The Titans and Vikings have met just 12 times in the regular season.
The Vikings lead the series 8-4, including wins by the Vikings in the last four meetings at Mall of America Field.
Most recently, the teams faced off in Minneapolis in Week 5 of the 2012 campaign. The Vikings scored the game’s first 23 points and ultimately won by a final score of 30-7. Quarterback Christian Ponder (258 passing yards), receiver Percy Harvin (108 receiving yards) and running back Adrian Peterson (88 rushing yards) led the way for the Vikings.
The Vikings began their expansion season in the NFL in 1961, one season after the Oilers helped launch the American Football League. It was not until five seasons into the 1970 NFL-AFL merger that the two teams played their first regular season game against each other.
The first Oilers-Vikings game in 1974 finished with a lopsided score of 51-10 in favor of the Vikings. It is still tied for the ninth biggest defeat in franchise history. The Vikings finished that season with a trip to Super Bowl IX.
The 1974 meeting also was the first and only game played by the Oilers at Metropolitan Stadium, which the Vikings would leave in 1982 when Mall of America Field (the Metrodome) opened. At Mall of America Field, the Titans managed one win in six outings. They were victorious there in 1992, the last time they beat the Vikings before a four-game losing streak began.
The first time the Vikings played in Tennessee during the regular season was December 26th, 1998. On that day, the Titans hosted the Vikings in the regular season finale, a game the Vikings won by a final score of 26-16.
The Titans were left with an 8-8 record, while the Vikings were 15-1 and would later advance to the NFC Championship Game. That was the final game the Titans played at Vanderbilt Stadium and the final time the team would be called the Oilers. In 1999, Nissan Stadium opened and the team took the name Titans.
Titans-Vikings: The Last Meeting
Tennessee Titans 7 at Minnesota Vikings 30
Sunday, October 7th, 2012
Mall of America Field, Minneapolis, MN
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Tennessee Titans | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 7 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 30 |
In Week 5 of the 2012 season, the Vikings controlled play from both sides of the line of scrimmage against the Titans in a 30-7 win at Mall of America Field.
Christian Ponder passed for 258 yards and two touchdowns for the Vikings, and the aerial assault was complemented by 175 rushing yards. Adrian Peterson led the way with 88 yards on 17 carries (5.2 avg.).
However, it was wide receiver Percy Harvin who was arguably the biggest antagonist. He recorded a game-high 108 yards on eight receptions, including a touchdown. He also rushed for one of Minnesota’s three touchdowns.
The game was scoreless with three minutes remaining in the first quarter. The Vikings took the lead on a nine-play, 91-yard drive that included a 45-yard pass from Ponder to Harvin. Then, on first-and-goal from the four-yard line, Harvin took a handoff and darted into the end zone.
The Titans then committed two consecutive turnovers. They were driving with under a minute on the clock in the first quarter, converting a fourth-and-one with the punt team on the field on a 10-yard run by Jordan Babineaux. However, they lost the ball on the next play when safety Harrison Smith recovered a Johnson fumble.
The Titans forced a punt after that turnover, but they weren’t as fortunate on their next giveaway. Following an interception by Antoine Winfield off a Matt Hasselbeck pass, Blair Walsh made a 42-yard field goal to put the Vikings ahead 10-0.
On their next possession, the Vikings drove 77 yards on 12 plays, including a 22-yard run by Peterson. Walsh capped the series with a 36-yard field goal.
With the Vikings looking to increase their 13-0 lead late in the first half, the Titans recorded a takeaway of their own. Ponder lofted a pass toward the end zone to tight end Kyle Rudolph, but safety Robert Johnson tipped the ball up and then corralled it at the Tennessee two-yard line for an interception.
Early in the second half, the Titans victimized Ponder for the second consecutive time. Following a 34-yard rush by Peterson, Babineaux picked off a pass intended to Jerome Simpson.
The Vikings extended their lead once again near the end of the third quarter. A 17-yard run by Peterson was followed by a 29-yard reception by tight end Rhett Ellison, and finally, on third-and-five from the 10-yard line, Harvin caught a short pass from Ponder and turned it into a touchdown.
Trailing 23-0, the Titans finally got on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter. At the tail end of a 12-play, 77-yard drive, Hasselbeck found Jared Cook in the end zone from 10 yards out for a score.
The Titans then attempted an onside kick, but the ball went out of bounds before they could recover it. Starting in Titans territory, the Minnesota offense tacked on its final scoring drive of the day, finishing with a 15-yard scoring strike from Ponder to Rudolph.
