Murchison, Titans eliminated from NFL playoffs; here’s a recap of the former East Bladen, N.C. State standout’s season

Second-year NFL lineman Larrell Murchison’s bid for the 56th Super Bowl with his Tennessee Titans teammates has ended in Nashville, Tennessee.

Saturday in Nissan Stadium, the Titans were defeated 19-16 by Cincinnati in the AFC semifinals. Tennessee was the No. 1 seed and had won the AFC South Division title.

Murchison was one of seven players put on the inactive list before the game. The Titans used 91 players this season, an NFL record in a nonstrike year, and had all available for the game.

Tennessee was upset in a game in which it was unsuccessful trying a 2-point conversion following a penalty on the PAT after its first touchdown with the score 6-6; tried to run its quarterback with something other than a sneak on third-and-inches then failed to convert fourth down at the Bengals’ 37 midway the fourth quarter tied 16-16; and wasn’t aggressive with its final posssession and 2:43 to play until Ryan Tannehill threw his third interception at the Cincinnati 47 with just 20 seconds to go.

Cincinnati, surviving a playoffs record-tying nine sacks, got one completion to get into field goal range, then ran twice to set up Evan McPherson’s game-winning kick from 52 yards away as time expired.

A year ago, Tennessee lost a home game to Baltimore in the wild card round.

Murchison, 24, completed the second season of a $3.5 million four-year contract he signed after being drafted in the fifth round (174th overall) in the 2020 NFL Draft. He prepped for head coach Robby Priest at East Bladen High, then played at Louisburg College and N.C. State.

Murchison, the son of Elizabethtown’s Glenda and Milton Murchison, played in 11 games this season. Tennessee was 3-2 in his starts, the first of his career, and 8-3 in games in which he appeared.

For his career, Tennessee is 15-6 when he plays. He’s had three games, all this year, when he did not play, and nine games in which he was put on the inactive list — three this season, six in 2020. Murchison played in the playoffs a year ago in the 20-13 loss to the Ravens, getting an assisted tackle playing just five defensive snaps (8 percent) and seven special teams snaps (28 percent).

The following is a recap of his 2021 season.

• Week 1: Lost to Arizona 38-13; first career start, played career-high 37 snaps on defense (54 percent), eight on special teams (30 percents); one assisted tackle.

• Week 2: Won at Seattle 33-30; started, 14 snaps on defense (26 percent), nine on special teams (25 percent), solo tackle.

• Week 3: Defeated Indianapolis 25-16; 16 snaps on defense (26 percent), six on special teams (26 percent), solo tackle.

• Week 7: Defeated Kansas City 27-3; 27 snaps on defense (38 percent), three on special teams (16 percent).

• Week 8: Won at Indianapolis 34-31; 19 snaps on defense (24 percent), five on special teams (16 percent), solo tackle.

• Week 9: Won at Los Angeles Rams 28-16; 17 snaps on defense (22 percent), four on special teams (15 percent), one assisted tackle.

• Week 10: Defeated New Orleans 23-21; started, 21 snaps on defense (31 percent), six on special teams (21 percent).

• Week 11: Lost to Houston 22-13; started, 27 snaps on defense (42 percent), eight on special teams (32 percent), solo tackle, assisted tackle, two total tackles.

• Week 12: Lost at New England 36-13; six snaps on defense (10 percent), 10 on special teams (36 percent).

• Week 14: Defeated Jacksonville 20-0; three snaps on defense (5 percent), none on special teams.

• Week 18: Won at Houston 28-25; started, 13 snaps on defense (23 percent), four on special teams (15 percent), one assisted tackle.

Coming in 2022, the Titans will be paired with the AFC West and NFC East in the rotating schedule system. They have home-and-away dates with AFC South rivals in the Colts, Texans and Jaguars. At home, Tennessee also faces the Cowboys, Giants, Raiders, Broncos and Bengals; on the road, it’s trips to Washington, the Eagles, Chiefs, Chargers, Packers and Bills.

Games against the Bengals and Bills are because of two intraconference assignments based on 2021 finish; the trip to Green Bay is the interconference assignment based on 2021 finish. All three of those assignments pit teams that finished in the same place in respective divisions; all of these are division winners. The Cowboys and Chiefs give Tennessee five division champs among 17 foes.