Under Pressure and Rain, Nick Folks Delivers Titans First Victory of the Season

The Tennessee Titans got some rough luck at the end of their overtime win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Right as the Titans got the ball the rain started to come down in Nashville. With the pressure of the moment and the rain on kicker Nick Folk, he stepped up and nailed a 41-yard field goal to seal the Titans' first win of 2023.

Not only was it the Titans' first win of 2023, but their first victory in the last eight games. Folk may not have been around for seven of those eight losses, but he certainly knew the situation. To come up big in that moment will quickly create trust in Folk going forward.

Folk was acquired right before the season kicked off when Titans' general manager Ran Carthon sent a 2025 seventh-round pick to the Patriots. A move that clearly was the right call. Having a veteran like Folk is an obvious upgrade over the young kickers the Titans worked with in training camp and the preseason.

The reliability of a kicker like Folk is not something that is lost on Titans' head coach Mike Vrabel.

"(Folk's) been really good and that's what he's done," Vrabel said. "That's what you need in this league, a guy who's reliable in critical situations."

Again, it wasn't a clean situation. The rain really factored into the decision of when to kick. The Titans ended up having Folk kick on third down to try and avoid the rain getting even worse. Vrabel talked about that decision as well.

"Is it going to stop," Vrabel wondered about the rain, "is it going to slow down? We had a couple of downs to play with, it's like, how much harder is it going to rain? Do we give it another minute and run another play, or just put a foot on this thing."

Luckily, the Vrabel decided to kick it. Luckily, Folk was an experienced kicker who could nail it. Luckily, Carthon was wise enough to make the trade. While it may have taken some luck, the Titans are in the win column again. No matter what you want to call it, they'll take it.

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