Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee Titans know they're in the midst of an amazing run. They see no reason to stop now, not when they're so close to an improbable, once unthinkable, playoff berth.
No NFL team has ever started 0-5 and made the playoffs. But the Titans (8-7) have hope and a chance to make history thanks to rookie quarterback Vince Young and a six-game winning streak that makes anything seem possible.
"We're still alive, and considering the 0-5 start, to be alive going into the last game is very gratifying," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said.
Reaching .500 seemed impossible after a 14-13 loss at Indianapolis on Oct. 8, their fifth straight defeat to open this season and second with Young starting. But he now is 8-4 as a starter and ended the Titans' string of losing seasons at two.
If they beat New England (11-4) this Sunday, the Titans will match their nine victories combined from the 2004 and 2005 seasons in their final 11 games.
"We're starting to form together as a team and find ways to win ballgames," receiver Brandon Jones said. "We are creating our destination. We are just going to go out there and keep playing hard and let it work itself out."
The Titans need help.
They trail Denver (9-6) and the New York Jets (8-6), who can clinch AFC wild-card berths by winning out. Denver hosts San Francisco, and the Jets had Miami and Oakland. They lose any tiebreaker with the Jets after a 23-16 season-opening defeat.
Cincinnati (8-7) is ahead on tiebreakers. But these young Titans are very confident after finding so many different ways to win in this streak that everything seems possible. Sunday's 30-29 victory at Buffalo was the fourth comeback in this stretch.
"We know there is always a way for us to win," linebacker Keith Bulluck said.
And they've used nearly every one:
_ Score 24 in the final 10 minutes and rally from 21-0 to beat the New York Giants.
_ Make a 60-yard field goal to down Indianapolis at the end.
_ Get Young's thrilling overtime touchdown run at Houston, and three defensive TDs against Jacksonville.
Their biggest problem in Buffalo wasn't the gusting winds, but 11 penalties for 81 yards. Rob Bironas, who has won four games this season with field goals, sent kickoffs dribbling out of bounds twice, giving the Bills excellent field position.
"This is really the first time we've overcome mistakes to win a ballgame, and now we got to learn from it," Fisher said.
But the Titans ran for 215 yards - the fifth time they've topped 200 this season - and Young provided another highlight with his 36-yard TD dash on fourth-and-2. The defense gave up 368 yards, but held Buffalo to five field goals, four from inside the Titans 20 and three at the 6 or closer.
Now they must prove they can handle the pressure of being expected to win. They opened as a rare 3-point favorite against New England, which has clinched the AFC East.
Only nine of these Titans were on the roster in their last playoff game, a 17-14 night loss in frigid New England on Jan. 10, 2004. Five free agents led by safety Chris Hope, a Super Bowl winner with Pittsburgh last season, were brought in because of their experience.
Defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch is enjoying the excitement of his first playoff chase after spending his first four seasons in Phoenix.
"I'm usually playing for pride at this point in the season. We've got a chance. The way this team keeps finding ways to win, I think we are a dangerous team right now," he said.
Running back Travis Henry, who rushed for 135 yards despite having to travel by himself to Buffalo because he missed the team charter, said the Titans are rolling.
"We are just going to play this last game and see what happens," Henry said.