Titans Literally Tower over Texans

The Tennessee Titans beat the Houston Texans 20-17 Monday night for their fourth straight victory after a 0-6 start. Rob Bironas kicked a field goal for 53 yards with less than one minute remaining on the clock. Bironas also led Tennessee to its first game lead with a field goal of 50 yards, with three minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter. The Titans were ahead at the 6-yard line, but the Texans were given a 15-yard horse collar penalty due to an incident involving Chris Johnson. After a couple of plays, the Titans found themselves on their 41. This was just right before the warning through a 22-yard run by Johnson. When Vince Young took over at quarterback, the Titans (4-6) haven’t lost since. As a rookie in 2006, he had a winning touchdown in overtime. Young completed a touchdown pass in the first half while Johnson finished with about 151 yards rushing. Bironas added a 50-yard field goal in the third quarter. Antonio Smith gave Tennessee a first down at the Houston 45 when he got a 15-yard penalty for excessive roughness as he took an extra shot at a Titan. After Young’s incomplete pass on third down and Birona’s missed try on a field goal, Tennessee was led to come away empty. Later in the drive when the Titans couldn’t go on after Young had a 12-yard run for a first down, they went to Bironas for a field goal, making it his second of at least 50 yards. He missed earlier on a 49-yarder with about 10 minutes left. The Texans were able to move the ball 31 yards within five plays before a field goal was attempted by Brown. In third quarter, he missed from the same distance and missed one more from 42 yards as the game ended in a 20-17 loss to Indianapolis before Houston was defeated. A 49-yard attempt by Kris Brown to tie up the game with just a second remaining led to his second miss of the game and a chance to send the game to overtime. Titans called for delay of game With about 5 ½ minutes left, the Titans were called for delay of game after they ran for a first down on a fake punt and had to punt it away. The punt came after two consecutive incomplete passes by Young. The Titans took a kick at the field goal, right after Young was tackled by Bernard Pollard for a 2-yard loss on third-and-5. The Texans settled for a 26-yard field goal by Brown and tied it at 17 after their drive stalled. Beforehand, Andre Johnson tried to get Houston down inside the 10-yard line in the third quarter by getting in front of Michael Griffin for a 49-yard reception. Earlier in second quarter, a 12-yard reception by Andre Johnson helped Houston regain the lead making it 14-7. The Titan’s win got its help downfield by an astounding run from Chris Johnson. This is Tennessee’s fourth straight win, all with Young as starter and Birona’s FG.