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Young rallies Titans for sixth straight win

Dec 25, 2006 - 1:12 AM ORCHARD PARK, New York (Ticker) -- Not even the cold wind off Lake Erie could cool down rookie Vince Young and the Tennessee Titans.

Young threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as the Titans captured their sixth straight win with a 30-29 victory over the surging Buffalo Bills.

The pivotal piece in the surprising run by rebuilding Tennessee (8-7), Young once again had all the answers in the fourth quarter, leading his team on a pair of scoring drives for his fourth come-from-behind win in the last five weeks.

Despite once again displaying the ability to come up with big plays in the clutch, Young did have to deal with some restrictive conditions, like gusts of winds of up to 25 miles per hour.

"We had some ups and downs in the game and the wind was real crazy out there, so overall, just getting the win, that's all that matters," he said.

Beginning the season at 0-5, Tennessee continued an improbable playoff push at will need major help even with a win over New England next week. The Titans are looking to become the first NFL team to start with five straight losses and reach the postseason.

"Considering the 0-5 start, to be where we are going into the last game of the season still alive is very gratifying," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "We've got a lot of work ahead, some bumps and bruises to work through."

The third overall pick, Young kept the eventual game-winning drive alive after scrambling for nine yards on a 3rd-and-5 at the Buffalo 31 with just under four minutes remaining.

"Every week he does something to amaze me," Tennessee wide receiver Brandon Jones said. "That's the best thing to have a quarterback like that, that you can revolve around. Everybody helps out and he's going to make everything happen."

Four plays later, Rob Bironas kicked his third field goal of the game from 30 yards out to give the Titans the 30-29 edge.

The Bills, who had won four of their previous five games, managed to drive into the wind, getting down to the Titans 28 with 1:02 remaining.

However, Buffalo opted not attempt a 45-yard field goal on 4th-and-5, and J.P. Losman was intercepted by cornerback Reynaldo Hill just in front of the end zone after scrambling out of the pocket.

"The last play of the game, we were just outside Rian (Lindell's) field-goal range, really a good deal outside of it by our marks when we started the game and by talking to him," Buffalo coach Dick Jauron said. "That's the reason we didn't kick the ball there."

"We talked about it before the drive," Lindell said. "We had a line. I leave it to them."

Young, who finished 13-of-20 for 183 yards, closed his team within 29-27 on a 29-yard touchdown pass to Jones just under four minutes into the fourth.

"Vince was on," Fisher said. "There was no question in our minds that we could throw it if we needed to throw it, just because of where he was ... he was dead on. We were confident that we were going to find a way to win this game."

A member of the Bills from 2001-04 who was traded to Tennessee due to the presence of Willis McGahee, Travis Henry rushed for 135 yards on 25 carries.

"This is one of the games I circled when I found out we were playing Buffalo," Henry said. "Coming back here seeing the fans, ex-teammates I played with, it was great. I had a lot of fun out there."

Losman finished 19-of-33 for 266 yards and two interceptions. His lone TD of the game, a 37-yard pass to Lee Evans, gave Buffalo a 26-20 advantage with 9:11 left in the third quarter.

McGahee rushed 22 times for 95 yards and a touchdown for Buffalo (7-8), which was eliminated from playoff contention.

The Bills had a great chance to really open the game at the end of the third, but Evans' pass to the end zone on a trick play to Robert Royal was ruled incomplete as the tight end could not get two feet inbounds. Buffalo later had to settle for a 24-yard field goal by Lindell and a 29-20 lead.

"It was close," Evans said. "We thought we had it. It was drawn up well, it was the right play call, we just didn't execute.

"We really had a chance to go up big and really put them in a hole. We got points, but we needed more."

A back-and-forth contest for most of the first half, the final seconds before halftime were some of the best as Young broke free on a 4th-and-2 for a 36-yard TD run, giving Tennessee a 20-16 lead.

"Well, he made a great run," Jauron said. "I would say it's just very difficult to contain him. Poor play on our part and he made an exceptional play."