The Tennessee Titans land an important victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the playoff race. Wide receiver A.J. Brown delivers a historic comeback and receives lavish praise from quarterback Ryan Tannehill.

Nashville/Munich – A.J. Brown distributed hand kisses towards the cheering crowd at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium.

A few minutes earlier, the Tennessee Titans, who were playing there, had downed the San Francisco 49ers 20:17 – mainly thanks to Brown’s fabulous performance.

The wide receiver caught eleven passes from quarterback Ryan Tannehill and gained 145 yards. Brown also scored a touchdown. And all this after he last played in week eleven due to a chest injury and had to miss time since then.

“I’m very thankful to just be able to play football again. I’ve missed it and it’s been tough for me because football is what I love. I really think that’s my purpose in life,” Brown explained after the game.

A.J. Brown turns it up after weak first half

But of course not everything went smoothly: In half one Brown still showed some problems and only managed 24 passing yards – score 0:10 from the Titans’ point of view. After the break, the 180-degree turnaround followed. First he made Ambry Thomas look bad with a pass of 42 yards, a short time later he caught a touchdown pass from Tannehill, which gave the Titans their first lead of the game.

By the end of the game, he was targeted 16 times by Tannehill and caught 11 of those balls, both career-bests for the receiver in his third NFL year. He caught eight balls on third down attempts, something no other player has done in the past 30 years, according to ESPN.

Brown’s return is a boost for the Titans’ passing offence, which has been a little lame of late, weakening Tannehill’s opportunities. The 24-year-old is the Titans’ best pass receiver (56), has the most receiving touchdowns (four) and the most yards (760). And that’s despite being out with injury for several weeks.

Tannehill raves, “Love throwing the ball to A.J. “

No wonder Tannehill sang the praises of his top receiver after the win over the 49ers: “I love throwing the ball to A.J. (Brown; ed.). He has a natural ability to break free. He’s big and strong. There are very few players you can easily find. He’s one of them”

The Titans seem to be back on track, or in the words of Head Coach Mike Vrabel, “The funeral for the Titans was supposed to be yesterday or today, but we’re not dead yet.”

Especially with regard to the playoffs, the team from Nashville holds all the trumps in its own hands. If the Indianapolis Colts lose to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, the Titans are assured of the playoffs and are division champions in the AFC South. Otherwise, another win in the remaining games of the season will suffice.

In view of Brown’s furious comeback, the Titans are unlikely to become the favourite opponent of the other AFC teams there. Titans fans, on the other hand, are likely to enjoy more hand-kissing in the direction of the stands in January.