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          NFL Nation

          Stephen Gostkowski, Titans' big-play offense bail out defense in win over Vikings

          • Turron Davenport, ESPNSep 27, 2020, 08:38 PM
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              Turron Davenport covers the Tennessee Titans for ESPN. Turron is a former collegiate football player at Cheyney University and is a native of Philadelphia, and he has authored/co-authored four books. You can catch Turron on ESPN Radio on his show "Talking with TD" and you can follow him on Twitter: @TDavenport_NFL.
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          NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Titans' offense came up big in a back-and-forth 31-30 shootout win over the Minnesota Vikings, but the biggest star was kicker Stephen Gostkowski. He made a 55-yard field goal with 1:58 remaining to give Tennessee the lead for good.

          Gostkowski's six field goals tied a career-high. He is now 14-for-15 on potential go-ahead field goals in the fourth quarter for his career.

          The Titans' defense allowed 464 total yards to Minnesota a week after the Jacksonville Jaguars finished with 480 yards against Tennessee.

          Ryan Tannehill led the Titans to their seventh fourth-quarter comeback (an NFL high since he took over in Week 7 last season). After some early struggles, Tannehill came alive in the third quarter, starting with a 61-yard completion to Kalif Raymond that led to Tennessee's first lead of the day when Derrick Henry punched it in from the 1-yard line. Henry led a methodical rushing attack, finishing with 119 yards and two touchdowns.

          The win gave the Titans their first 3-0 start since 2008.

          Troubling trend: The Titans' run defense continued to struggle. After giving up 165 yards on the ground to the Jaguars last week, the Vikings gained 226 yards on the ground, including 181 yards by Dalvin Cook. Coach Mike Vrabel alluded to the need to "edge, wall, and swarm" when asked about the run defense last week. Tennessee needs to tackle better. That's been an issue for the Titans that showed up Sunday on the 39-yard touchdown run by Cook.

          Pivotal play: After the Titans' defense got a much-needed three-and-out, coordinator Arthur Smith dialed up a play-action pass that resulted in the 61-yard toss from Tannehill to Raymond. The long completion set up a first-and-goal at the 4-yard line. Henry punched it in from the 1-yard line a few plays later to give the Titans a 25-24 lead.

          Eye-popping NextGen stat: Cook gained 139 of his rushing yards before initial contact, including going untouched on his 39-yard TD. That is Cook’s most rushing yards before contact of his career, the most by any player in a game this season and the most by a Vikings player since Adrian Peterson in 2013 (140 vs Bears).