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Titans rally, keep alive playoff hopes

Dec 16, 2007 - 11:36 PM By Marc Bowman PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- For nearly three quarters, the Tennessee Titams still seemed affected by last week's crushing overtime loss. But they woke up in time to keep alive their slim playoff hopes.

Vince Young tossed a 41-yard touchdown pass to Roydell Williams late in the third quarter that sparked the Titans to a 26-17 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

"It was just like in the backyard, playing with your little brother or little cousin," Young said of hitting the wide-open Williams along the left sideline for the go-ahead score.

"With the speed Roydell has, we wanted to get the ball out there to him. It's something that we worked on all week and it worked out pretty good."

The Titans (8-6) won for only the second time in their last six contests and remained one game behind the Cleveland Browns (9-5) for the AFC's second wild card spot.

Tennessee hosts the New York Jets next week and then visits Indianapolis in its regular-season finale.

Coming off a 23-17 defeat to the San Diego Chargers in which they squandered a 14-point lead in the final nine minutes of regulation, the Titans got a tougher-than-expected test from the Chiefs.

Brodie Croyle threw a pair of first-half touchdown passes for Kansas City, including a 9-yard strike to Kris Wilson with 1:47 remaining in the second quarter that staked the Chiefs to a 14-10 halftime lead.

After Tennessee's Rob Bironas opened the second half with a 37-yard field goal, Kansas City put together its second straight 14-play drive and took a 17-13 lead on John Carney's 36-yard field goal with 3:49 left in the third quarter.

But the Titans needed only three plays to answer, grabbing the lead for good on Young's TD strike to Williams with 2:24 remaining in the period.

"We wanted to throw the ball to the outside a bit more," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "We were kind of hoping the drive would last longer to keep the defense off the field, but we'll take it."

Young, completed 16-of-26 passes for 191 yards, also hooked up with Williams for a 16-yard TD in the first period. Williams finished with four receptions for 94 yards.

The Titans extended their lead to 26-17 on field goals of 40 and 25 yards by Rob Bironas, who made four in the contest.

"We were especially concerned about our third-down efficiency going into this game," Fisher added. "We held onto the ball and I think the difference in this game was our ability to run the football, primarily in the fourth quarter."

The Titans rushed for 148 yards, led by LenDale White, who ran for 93 yards on 24 carries.

"I really felt like the tempo rose up a little bit more (in the second half)," Young said. "At halftime, some of the leaders and myself gathered around and talked about picking up our tempo and to win the game because it was right there for us."

Brodie Croyle finished 23-of-45 for 217 yards with a pair of interceptions for the Chiefs, who suffered their seventh straight loss.

"Brodie threw the ball a lot today and we wanted to do that," Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said. "He made a couple of bad decisions, but he's going to do that. He's a young quarterback."

The losing streak is the longest for Kansas City since 1987, when it dropped nine in a row during the strike-shortened season.

The Chiefs normally have a significant home-field advantage at Arrowhead Stadium, but not this season.

Sunday's loss was Kansas City's fifth straight at home. Overall, the Chiefs lost six games at Arrowhead (2-6) this season, tying a dubious franchise mark, last done in 1977.

"It's what has been happening all year," Kansas City linebacker Derrick Johnson said of the Chiefs' second-half letdown. "We get unfocused. Something happens and we let it bother us the whole series or the whole second half."

Kansas City finishes the season with road contests at the Detroit Lions and New York Jets.

"It's very disappointing for us, for our fans, for everyone," Edwards said. "We've been in ballgames, but it seems like the second half everything changes. Here again, in the fourth quarter, we don't score any points."

The Titans recorded their first win at Arrowhead Stadium since a 27-10 victory in 1990 , when the franchise was located in Houston.

"We were happy to get away with a win," Fisher said. "We had to fill some holes and patch some things together because we had some injuries. But we made some plays and made some kicks and we found a way to win."