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Bironas sets NFL record with eight field goals

Oct 21, 2007 - 10:07 PM HOUSTON (Ticker) - Sage Rosenfels left too much time for Rob Bironas.

Bironas kicked his NFL-record eighth field goal as time expired, giving the Tennessee Titans a dramatic 38-36 victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday.

Before Bironas etched his name in the record book, Rosenfels - who was in the game for an injured Matt Schaub - rallied the Texans from a 32-7 fourth-quarter deficit.

Rosenfels' fourth touchdown pass, a 53-yard connection to Andre Davis with 57 seconds left, had given the Texans a 36-35 lead.

But the Titans had enough time with backup quarterback Kerry Collins, whose 46-yard completion to Roydell Williams set up Bironas for the winning kick.

Bironas barely snuck his 29-yard field goal inside the right upright, giving the Titans (4-2) a win in a game that they had controlled for the first three quarters.

"I need to let this one sink it first," Bironas said when asked if the eighth field goal was the highlight of his career. "Someone told me at halftime that I had five, and I was like 'wow,' I had eight on the year coming in, I've almost doubled it.

"But I never worry about how many I have in a game or how long they are. I just prepare for each kick as they come."

Four players had previously kicked seven field goals in a game.

Bironas connected on field goals of 52, 25, 21, 30, 28, 43, 29 and 29 yards. His first four field goals came in the opening half as the Titans built a 22-7 lead.

"When there was 52 seconds left in the game, I was just waiting for the offense to put me in position," Bironas added. "I was ready to kick a long one, but Kerry (Collins) and the guys put me closer."

The rally under Rosenfels was a complete surprise. After all, Houston managed just 24 yards of total offense and two first downs in the opening half.

Schaub twice was knocked out of the game, the second and last time on a helmet-to-helmet hit by defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth.

"Matt is just beat up, to be honest with you," Texans coach Gary Kubiak. "He is having an MRI and we are concerned about his hip. He's taken a lot of shots over the course of the first seven weeks of the season and hopefully he is just beat-up and we can get him out there healthy."

Rosenfels, who turned the ball over three times on his first six snaps, was amazing in the fourth quarter. He threw TD passes of 7 yards to David Anderson, 6 yards to Kevin Walter and 7 yards to Jeb Putzier before his connection to Davis.

"A lot of great things happened in the fourth quarter," Rosenfels said. "But we also have to look at the poor play, especially the turnovers, which I did three times during the game."

Overall, Rosenfels completed 22-of-35 passes for 290 yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions.

"He just kept battling," Kubiak said of Rosenfels. "He had some plays that I know he wants back, but he gave us a chacne to win, too."

LenDale White and rookie Chris Henry each rushed for a touchdown for the Titans, who improved to 3-1 on the road. White rushed for 104 yards on 27 carries.

Houston (3-4) committed six turnovers.

"Today, we just had an extremely accurate place kicker and a veteran quarterback that has been in those kinds of situations," said Titans coach Jeff Fisher. "When you are playing the kind of defense that we were playing today and they force you to kick field goals, you have to get some turnovers. And we were able to do that when we needed them."

Starting in place of Vince Young (quadriceps), Collins completed 25-of-42 passes for 280 yards. His favorite target was Williams, who had five receptions for 124 yards.

"This is just a great feeling and I couldn't be more proud of the team for the way they responded (after Houston grabbed the lead," Collins said . "This is probably the craziest (NFL) game that I have been around or involved with. Too many crazy things just went down today."