Titans demolish rival Jaguars
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. » Tennessee’s Vince Young watched from the sideline. Jacksonville’s David Garrard was in the locker room.
Both starting quarterbacks were knocked out of last night’s game, turning things over to veteran Kerry Collins and recently signed Trent Edwards.
The backups performed as expected, with Collins leading the Titans to a 30-3 victory and Edwards looking mostly like a guy who joined the team three weeks ago.
"Kerry did a nice job and that’s why Kerry’s here," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "We’re very, very fortunate that we have two very good quarterbacks."
Collins completed 11 of 16 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown, directed five consecutive scoring drives and put the Titans (4-2) atop the AFC South. Tennessee, which also got 111 yards rushing and a late score from Chris Johnson, moved into a three-way tie with Indianapolis and Houston.
The Jaguars (3-3), meanwhile, were left in a familiar position. They finished last in the division the last two years and are again in chase mode.
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"Not the night we were looking for," Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said. "We turned it over four times, lost our quarterback. … Not the kind of night we wanted to have."
Young threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Britt on the opening drive, then sprained his left knee on the next series.
"He’s a little sore," Fisher said, adding that Young also sprained his left ankle. "He could have finished in shotgun."
Collins replaced him and threw a short TD to Bo Scaife, then led the Titans on time-consuming drives to keep control.
"That’s part of the life of a backup in the NFL," Collins said.
At 37 years old, Collins has been a starter and a backup. He even replaced Young in the 2008 season opener in Jacksonville, then kept the starting job the rest of the year.
This time, though, he knows his role.
"I’m a short-term fill-in," he said.
Jacksonville was plagued by turnovers for the second straight week. The Jaguars were able to overcome three mistakes against winless Buffalo. No such luck against Tennessee, which has won six of the last eight in the series.
The Titans turned three short fields into 13 points, taking advantage of two interceptions and a short punt. Making matters worse for Jacksonville, tight end Marcedes Lewis fumbled at the Tennessee 10-yard line in the second quarter and receiver Tiquan Underwood let Vincent Fuller rip a pass out of his hands in the end zone in the fourth.
The Jaguars finished with four turnovers.
"We can’t shoot ourselves in the foot like that," Lewis said. "It’s not them beating us. It’s us beating ourselves. It’s self-inflicted. And playing from behind, that’s not us."
Garrard, hit several times early, completed seven of 12 passes for 49 yards, with an interception. He suffered a concussion in the second quarter after getting rocked by Will Witherspoon.
"Losing David definitely hurt," Underwood said. "That’s our quarterback, our captain, our leader."
Edwards, the former Buffalo starter who was claimed off waivers three weeks ago, stepped in for his first action with the Jaguars. He was 11-for-20 for 115 yards, with two interceptions.
"We never got any offensive rhythm," Lewis said. "To have Dave go out like that, everybody felt they had to press."
Jacksonville finished with 249 yards, as Tennessee’s defense stuffed Maurice Jones-Drew, blanketed Mike Sims-Walker and kept steady pressure on whoever lined up at quarterback.
The Titans moved the ball with relative ease all night. They finished with 324 yards, including a 35-yard touchdown run by Johnson on his final carry of the night.
Jones-Drew and Johnson set an NFL record the last time they shared a field. Jones-Drew ran for a career-high 177 yards and two touchdowns, Johnson finished with a career-high 228 yards and two scores. Together, they gave the league its first game with at least four TD runs of at least 50 yards.
Tennessee won that one 30-13 last November.
The rematch was more lopsided.
Rob Bironas kicked three field goals, plenty for Tennessee’s stifling defense.
The Jaguars only got into Tennessee territory twice.
Jones-Drew managed only 57 yards on 17 carries.
All three of Jacksonville’s losses have been one-sided affairs. The team has been outscored 96-19 against San Diego, Philadelphia and Tennessee.
Titans 30, Jaguars 3
Tennessee | 7 | 10 | 3 | 10 | — | 30 |
Jacksonville | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 3 |
First quarter
Ten–Britt 23 pass from Young (Bironas kick), 12:34.
Second quarter
Ten–Scaife 2 pass from Collins (Bironas kick), 8:22.
Ten–FG Bironas 26, 2:09.
Third quarter
Ten–FG Bironas 33, 11:25.
Jac–FG Scobee 33, 7:05.
Fourth quarter
Ten–FG Bironas 36, 14:12.
Ten–C.Johnson 35 run (Bironas kick), 1:40.
A–63,625.
Ten | Jac | |
First downs | 20 | 17 |
Total Net Yards | 324 | 249 |
Rushes-yards | 39-153 | 25-76 |
Passing | 171 | 173 |
Punt Returns | 1-9 | 2-(-2) |
Kickoff Returns | 2-50 | 7-168 |
Interceptions Ret. | 3-23 | 0-0 |
Comp-Att-Int | 14-21-0 | 21-36-3 |
Sacked-Yards Lost | 0-0 | 2-16 |
Punts | 2-49.0 | 3-37.3 |
Fumbles-Lost | 1-0 | 1-1 |
Penalties-Yards | 8-57 | 7-55 |
Time of Possession | 32:45 | 27:15 |
RUSHING—Tennessee, C.Johnson 26-111, Ringer 10-42, Hall 1-1, Young 1-0, Collins 1-(minus 1). Jacksonville, Jones-Drew 17-57, Edwards 5-16, Karim 3-3.
PASSING—Tennessee, Collins 11-16-0-110, Young 3-5-0-61. Jacksonville, Edwards 14-24-2-140, Garrard 7-12-1-49.
RECEIVING—Tennessee, Scaife 4-53, Williams 4-48, Britt 2-33, C.Johnson 2-20, Washington 1-9, Ringer 1-8. Jacksonville, Thomas 8-88, Lewis 4-39, Miller 2-18, Sims-Walker 2-16, Karim 2-9, Jones-Drew 2-8, Underwood 1-11.
NFL STANDINGS
AMERICAN FOOTBALL CONFERENCE
East | ||||||
W | L | T | Pct | PF | PA | |
N.Y. Jets | 5 | 1 | 0 | .833 | 159 | 101 |
New England | 4 | 1 | 0 | .800 | 154 | 116 |
Miami | 3 | 2 | 0 | .600 | 89 | 112 |
Buffalo | 0 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 87 | 161 |
South | ||||||
W | L | T | Pct | PF | PA | |
Houston | 4 | 2 | 0 | .667 | 153 | 167 |
Indianapolis | 4 | 2 | 0 | .667 | 163 | 125 |
Tennessee | 4 | 2 | 0 | .667 | 162 | 98 |
Jacksonville | 3 | 3 | 0 | .500 | 110 | 167 |
North | ||||||
W | L | T | Pct | PF | PA | |
Pittsburgh | 4 | 1 | 0 | .800 | 114 | 60 |
Baltimore | 4 | 2 | 0 | .667 | 112 | 95 |
Cincinnati | 2 | 3 | 0 | .400 | 100 | 102 |
Cleveland | 1 | 5 | 0 | .167 | 88 | 125 |
West | ||||||
W | L | T | Pct | PF | PA | |
Kansas City | 3 | 2 | 0 | .600 | 108 | 92 |
Oakland | 2 | 4 | 0 | .333 | 120 | 151 |
Denver | 2 | 4 | 0 | .333 | 124 | 140 |
San Diego | 2 | 4 | 0 | .333 | 157 | 126 |
NATIONAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCE
East | ||||||
W | L | T | Pct | PF | PA | |
N.Y. Giants | 4 | 2 | 0 | .667 | 134 | 118 |
Philadelphia | 4 | 2 | 0 | .667 | 153 | 120 |
Washington | 3 | 3 | 0 | .500 | 113 | 119 |
Dallas | 1 | 4 | 0 | .200 | 102 | 111 |
South | ||||||
W | L | T | Pct | PF | PA | |
Atlanta | 4 | 2 | 0 | .667 | 130 | 101 |
New Orleans | 4 | 2 | 0 | .667 | 130 | 108 |
Tampa Bay | 3 | 2 | 0 | .600 | 80 | 111 |
Carolina | 0 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 52 | 110 |
North | ||||||
W | L | T | Pct | PF | PA | |
Chicago | 4 | 2 | 0 | .667 | 112 | 97 |
Green Bay | 3 | 3 | 0 | .500 | 139 | 112 |
Minnesota | 2 | 3 | 0 | .400 | 87 | 88 |
Detroit | 1 | 5 | 0 | .167 | 146 | 140 |
West | ||||||
W | L | T | Pct | PF | PA | |
Arizona | 3 | 2 | 0 | .600 | 88 | 138 |
Seattle | 3 | 2 | 0 | .600 | 98 | 97 |
St. Louis | 3 | 3 | 0 | .500 | 103 | 113 |
San Francisco | 1 | 5 | 0 | .167 | 93 | 139 |