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Titans beat Jaguars 30-3 in battle of backup QBs

Oct 19, 2010 - 7:59 AM By MARK LONG AP Sports Writer

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Kerry Collins has been a starter and a backup, on the field and on the sideline, in the huddle and on the headset.

At 37 years old, he knows his role these days.

"I'm a short-term fill-in," Collins said.

A good one, nonetheless.

Collins replaced injured starter Vince Young, completed 11 of 16 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown and put the Tennessee Titans atop the AFC South with a 30-3 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in a battle of backups Monday night.

Tennessee, which also got 111 yards rushing and a late score from Chris Johnson, moved into a three-way tie with Indianapolis and Houston in the division.

The Jaguars (3-3), who finished last in the division the past two years, are in chase mode again following another lopsided loss. And they might be without quarterback David Garrard, who left the game with a concussion.

"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 and tweaked his left ankle on the next series. Coach Jeff Fisher said Young was sore, but could have returned and finished the game in shotgun formation.

No need, not with Collins waiting in the wings. Collins came off the bench, threw a short TD to Bo Scaife and then led the Titans on time-consuming drives to keep control.

"Kerry did a nice job and that's why Kerry's here," Fisher said. "We're very, very fortunate that we have two very good quarterbacks."

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."

Knocked down several times early, Garrard completed 7 of 12 passes for 49 yards. He also threw an interception. He was knocked out of the game in the second quarter after getting rocked by Will Witherspoon.

"Losing David definitely hurt," Underwood said. "That's our quarterback, our captain, our leader."

Trent 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 of 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, while 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 nearly as lopsided, thanks to the turnovers and Rob Bironas' three field goals.

The Jaguars only got into Tennessee territory twice. The first drive ended shortly before halftime when Lewis caught a short pass from Edwards, turned and let the ball slip out of his hands - and the Titans recovered.

Down 20-0 early in the third quarter, Edwards hit Mike Thomas for 21 yards. Cortland Finnegan was called for defensive pass interference and Edwards again found Thomas on third-and-8 from the 18 to get down to the 7. But on third down, Jacob Ford sacked Edwards, and the Jaguars had to settle for a 33-yard field goal by Josh Scobee.

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.

"It's unacceptable to lose games in that way," safety Gerald Alexander said. "To have lopsided losses like that, it just shows inconsistency. It's demoralizing."