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Collins, Titans use second-half rally to remain unbeaten

Nov 17, 2008 - 2:26 AM JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Ticker) -- Kerry Collins' right arm and a stifling defense helped the Tennessee Titans keep their dreams of an unbeaten season alive.

Collins threw three second-half touchdowns, leading the Titans to a 24-14 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

Collins, who took over for a physically and emotionally ailing Vince Young following a loss to the Jaguars (4-6) in Week One, completed 13-of-23 passes for 230 yards in helping the Titans (10-0) rally from a 14-3 halftime deficit.

"This was a tale of two halves," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said.

"We had some unfortunate mistakes in the first half that created a situation where we couldn't score and convert third downs because of some penalties. We regrouped at halftime and if we wanted a chance to win, then we decided to put those things behind us."

Justin Gage caught four passes for 147 yards and a pair of scores for Tennessee, which extended its franchise-record winning streak to 13 games.

"Those two throws to Gage were huge in the second half," Fisher said. "We had 21 unanswered points and the defense gave us some help."

"We were ready to take some shots today," Collins said. "We felt if we were going to win this game, we would have to make some plays down the field. Guys came up big and obviously Justin Gage had a huge day. Give our receivers a lot of credit today."

The Titans are just the 10th team in NFL history to start 10-0, but they say the pressure isn't mounting. In fact, defensive end Jevon Kearse claims it's just the opposite.

"We feel like the pressure is on the other team," Kearse said. "We just go out and play one game at a time. We don't think about an undefeated record. There's more pressure on the other team. Each week we just focus on that game and we're not looking ahead."

Maurice Jones-Drew had a pair of touchdowns runs for Jacksonville, which had six punts and an interception on its first seven drives of the second half. The Jaguars set a franchise record with 10 punts.

"You have to give them credit," said Jacksonville running back Fred Taylor, who ran for 58 yards on 12 carries. "They came out and played their style of ball. They're 10-0, they deserve to be 10-0. We're 4-6 and we deserve to be 4-6 at this point.

"It's a 60-minute game, not 30 minutes. You have to finish the game. You have to give Tennessee credit, they came in here and did what they were supposed to do."

While the Jaguars sputtered, Collins and the Titans got untracked and stayed on track for a perfect season.

The strong-armed veteran capped a seven-play, 40-yard drive with a 13-yard TD to Brandon Jones that made it 14-10 with 9:12 remaining in the third. The stifling Titans' defense forced a three-and-out and, less than two minutes later, Collins hooked up with Gage for a 56-yard score.

Safety Reggie Nelson had a shot at Gage, but his weak attempt at a tackle allowed Gage to escape down the sideline.

Chris Carr then made a great leaping interception of David Garrard at the Tennessee 43. Four plays later, Collins hit Gage for a 38-yard touchdown to seal the win.

Carr entered the game after backup Eric King got hurt. King was starting in place of Nick Harper.

"It was a tremendous effort by a very solid backup guy for us," Fisher said.

Garrard finished 13-of-30 for 135 yards and an interception.

"We have to stop talking about the little things almost being there and how close we are because that is not going to get you wins," Garrard said. "Following through and finishing on the little things, we have to do a better job on that."

"You got to hand it to them, they are a good team," Jaguars defensive tackle Derek Landri said. "They made plays when it counted, we didn't."