MIAMI — It sure seems as if the Tennessee Titans have a franchise quarterback. And that franchise quarterback made the near-impossible happen Monday.

Will Levis orchestrated a comeback for the ages, bringing the Titans back from a 14-point deficit in the final 4½ minutes against the Miami Dolphins, one of the NFL's best teams, for a 28-27 win.

The Titans (5-8) nearly fumbled the game away with two turnovers deep in their own territory in the final six minutes, but Levis led scoring drives of 75 and 64 yards to stage one of the most improbable comebacks in recent team history.

Eight days after they had two punts blocked and missed an extra point in an overtime loss, and one week after dismissing special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman, the special teams blunder stings especially hard. Rookie Eric Garror attempted to field a punt off a bounce with several Dolphins around and couldn't collect the ball in his grasp, leading to the Dolphins (10-3) taking over at the Titans' 7-yard line. Two plays later, Miami's offense had its first touchdown in four red zone trips.

On the first offensive play after Miami's score, Levis and running back Derrick Henry misfired on a pitch for another fumble, once again setting the Dolphins up for a touchdown.

Despite the back-to-back fumbles, the Titans closed the deficit to six points with a nine-play, 75-yard drive that took just 1:54, and forced a three-and-out to get the ball back at the 36-yard line with 2:15 left.

Levis found receiver DeAndre Hopkins deep for 36 yards on the first play from scrimmage to get the ball to the 28-yard line. One play later, the Titans were in the red zone with a timeout left at the 2-minute warning. A 6-yard run by rookie Tyjae Spears and a 3-yard touchdown run from Henry later and kicker Nick Folk set up to make the go-ahead extra point.

The Dolphins got the ball back with 1:49 left and no timeouts, but outside linebacker Harold Landry came away with a fourth-down sack to ice the game

Levis finished 23-for-38 passing for 327 yards with a touchdown and an interception, a first-quarter pick-six returned five yards for a score. He also rushed twice for 16 yards.

About those first 3½ quarters . . .

Going into Monday, the Dolphins had the most efficient red zone offense in the NFL, scoring touchdowns on 75% of their trips, and the Titans had the NFL's No. 1 red zone defense, giving up touchdowns just 37% of the time. The stingy defense bested the high-flying offense three times in a row to start the game, with the Titans forcing a turnover and holding the Dolphins to a pair of field goals at the end of three trips inside the 5.

The Titans couldn't keep the dam from bursting forever, though. The Dolphins punched in for a pair of rushing touchdowns after the fourth-quarter fumbles to make what was once a close game look a lot less close.

The Tyreek Hill effect

Through three quarters, the Titans' secondary had limited the Dolphins' electric passing attack to just one completion of longer than 20 yards. The defense was playing well, but a big reason for this was the fact that star receiver Tyreek Hill — the NFL's leading receiver — was sidelined with an ankle injury.

Hill re-emerged from his injury late in the third quarter and by the end of his first possession back on the field, he had catches of 23 and 25 yards to set the Dolphins up inside the 10-yard line.

The play that kept things close

Dolphins star pass rusher Bradley Chubb had Levis in his grasp on a third-and-10 that would've knocked the Titans out of field goal range midway through the second quarter. But Levis slipped through Chubb's would-be sack and scrambled forward five yards, laying a hard hit on cornerback Jalen Ramsey as a punctuation mark. In frustration, Chubb slammed his helmet on the ground, registering an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and turning what would've been a likely 42-yard field goal try into a first-and-10 from the 12-yard line.

Another Levis scramble and two Henry rushes later and the Titans had the score tied 7-7.

Had Chubb brought Levis down, the Titans would've had to choose between a punt and a field goal from more than 50 yards.

A second try to press on

After defensive lineman Denico Autry blocked a field goal to keep the score tied 7-7, the Titans took over possession with 1:51 left in the first half. Titans coaches opted for the conservative approach, running three times despite having three timeouts, and punting back to the Dolphins.

Miami followed that sequence with a quick stall-and-punt of its own, and the Titans got the ball again, this time with about 30 seconds left. Levis had the green light to throw this time, and led the offense 69 yards in just 28 seconds to set up a field goal just before halftime, thanks in large part to a 22-yard and a 45-yard catch by Hopkins, the latter of which was a circus act maneuver. Hopkins contorted through the air to bring down the pass and put the Titans in position to take a 10-7 lead into the break.

What's next?

The Titans return home for an AFC South matchup against the rival Houston Texans on Sunday. Kickoff is scheduled for noon and the game will be televised on CBS.

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.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Will Levis leads Tennessee Titans in epic comeback vs Miami Dolphins