No spoilers, but a lot of moments on this list involve great Titans. Derrick Henry. Eddie George. Steve McNair. You know, the A-listers. Sometimes we’ll stretch down to the B- and C-list; we’ve already name-checked Joe Nedney and Justin Hunter, after all.

But there has never been a greater Titans moment orchestrated by a player further from the A-list than Sam Sloman. 

Welcome to the Tennessee Titans‘ best moments as ranked by The Tennessean. Sloman is instrumental at No. 16 on that list.

The Titans’ offensive stars did their jobs on Jan. 3, 2021 in Houston. QB Ryan Tannehill threw for 216 yards and a score. Henry rushed for 250 yards and two touchdowns, surpassing the 2,000-yard mark in the process. WR A.J. Brown caught 10 passes for 151 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown. 

But the defense had no answers for Houston QB Deshaun Watson, who threw for 365 yards and three second-half touchdowns, the last of which gave the Texans a 35-31 lead. The Titans responded with a classic Henry-era fourth-quarter drive spanning 19 plays, 75 yards and more than eight minutes of game clock to retake the lead, but Watson came back with 58 yards in 84 seconds to help the Texans tie the game with a field goal with 18 seconds left.

Titans coach Mike Vrabel had no intentions of packing things up and playing for overtime. Tannehill hit Brown for 52 yards on the first play of the ensuing drive. Then Henry ran for another 4, setting Sloman up on the right hash.

But wait . . .who’s Sloman? He was a practice squad player making his Titans debut. He had been elevated for this crucial game because regular kicker Stephen Gostkowski was on the COVID-19 inactive list and couldn’t play. He’d acquitted himself well thus far, making a 47-yard field goal and five extra points. But now he’s lining up for a 37-yard kick in the hopes of delivering the Titans their first AFC South title since 2008.

Snap.

Hold.

Sloman’s kick starts down the middle but starts veering toward the right upright. Still veering. Still veering. A few Texans players start signaling “no good” with their arms. Still veering. DOINK. The ball caroms off the upright and over the crossbar. It’s good. Sloman runs in exuberance and is mobbed by his temporary teammates. Henry looks shocked and relieved coming off the sideline.

The Titans, for the first time in 12 years, win their division.

Sloman never kicked another ball for the Titans, or any NFL team for that matter. Gostkowski was elevated off the COVID-19 list a few days later. Sloman was cut. He bounced around a few practice squads since, and spent some time in the XFL.

His Titans tenure may have been brief, but his moment will survive forever in Titans history.

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at  nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.