FAST FACTS
• Last meeting: Titans 27, Colts 10, on Oct. 30, 2011, LP Field, Nashville, Tenn.
• Head-to-head series: Colts lead, 20-14.

TITANS’ TRENDS
• Offense: Johnson has four 100-yard rushing games, so he’s not been AWOL all year. Hasselbeck has completed 61 percent of his passes for 2,701 yards with 15 TDs and 10 INTs. He’s taken 15 of 19 sacks allowed. The Titans have 18 TDs passing, seven rushing and four on returns. They’ve lost just five of 14 fumbles. WRs Nate Washington and Damian Williams each have five TD catches. Washington scored twice against the Colts last time. The Titans are 22nd at 22.5 points per game.
• Defense: Despite being near bottom third in several statistics, the Titans are sixth at 19.3 points allowed. And that’s the most important statistic. Tennessee has 24 sacks, led by DT Karl Klug with six. Foes have scored 19 TDs passing, six rushing and two on returns. It’s rare that a CB is tackle leader, but third-year pro Jason McCourty has 87. The Titans are plus-5 in giveaways/takeaways with 10 INTs and 10 fumble recoveries. McCourty has a team-high two INTS.

TITANS’ LAST GAME
• Saints 22, Titans 17: Rookie QB Jake Locker drove the Titans deep into Saints territory twice in the final minutes but was unable to deliver the game-winning score. The sub for injured QB Matt Hasselbeck was sacked at the Saints’ 8 on the game’s final play. Locker completed 13-of-29 passes for 282 yards and one TD. He also ran for a score. WR Nate Washington caught six passes for 130 yards, including a 40-yard TD. Titans DT Karl Klug sacked Saints QB Drew Brees twice.

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Mike Munchak has no explanation for exactly why the Tennessee Titans have won 13 of their past 14 games against the NFC.

Luckily for Tennessee, Atlanta and Tampa Bay are up next.

The Titans (5-4) have won two of three overall after a 30-3 rout of Carolina on Sunday to stay 1 1/2 games behind the Houston Texans (7-3) in the division.

Their defense smothered Cam Newton and the rest of the Panthers’ offense, while Chris Johnson ran for a season-high 130 yards. They even got a touchdown on a punt return.

“I hope it continues,” Munchak said Monday of the Titans’ success against the NFC. “We’d like to see that happen. It’s hard to figure out why that is, but I hope the pattern stays the same. … Going to Atlanta’s going to be a great challenge.”

With the win in Carolina, the Titans are 27-10 against the NFC since realignment in 2002, and that’s the second-best interconference winning rate in the NFL in that time at 73 percent behind only New England (33-5, 86.8 percent) with Pittsburgh at 72.4 percent (27-10-1).

Munchak has been preaching that the stretch run offers a fresh start for a team still set on winning the AFC South. The Titans are a win away from matching the six victories of last season, and this team won only once in the final nine games in a finish that led to the decision to cut Vince Young and part ways with coach Jeff Fisher.

The new coach said he never set a number for wins in his first season except enough to win the division.

“That’s our goal, that’s been our goal,” Munchak said. “I don’t know how many that’s going to take. Obviously, it’s going to take a lot more than we have right now. We’re in position to be able to do that so we just got to look at it that way that there’s no number. Just whatever number gets us into the playoffs.”

Munchak has encouraged his Titans to forget about the stats and rankings built up through the first eight games. The Titans seem to have seized upon this idea that they can start fresh despite being last in the NFL in rushing and other struggles.

“The biggest thing is we do have seven more, and we have to take them one at a time,” receiver Damian Williams said.

“I’ve told a couple people that before I don’t remember too many 12-4 teams not making the playoffs. If we go one at a time and keep doing what we’re doing and play our best football at the end of the season, I think we’ll have a good shot.”

The Titans spoke while Texans coach Gary Kubiak announced a significant foot injury to his starting quarterback Matt Schaub.

But the Titans can be encouraged by their own play in Carolina. Johnson had 177 yards from scrimmage as the offense finally looked to be in synch running the ball with the offensive line opening big holes for him.

“You watch the tape, yeah that’s us,” Munchak said. “That’s how we block. That’s how we play.”

Williams had 107 yards receiving off five catches to give Tennessee a 100-yard receiver and 100-yard rusher for the first time this season. Matt Hasselbeck threw a touchdown pass in his ninth straight game, his longest such streak to start a season in his career.

The defense had a season-high five sacks and held the Panthers to 279 yards, looking more like the unit that was the NFL’s stingiest in points allowed early in October while starting 3-1. The Titans did it despite starting three rookies on defense with a fourth, tackle Karl Klug, getting plenty of work as well.

Marc Mariani, a Pro Bowl returner as a rookie, also pitched in with his first touchdown this season off a 79-yard punt return.

The Titans had nine penalties for 92 yards, but Munchak noted they didn’t have any offsides, false starts, illegal motions. He used video of the penalties they were flagged for as teaching moments trying to clean up those mistakes.

“You get a chance to run the ball, it’s good for everybody,” Munchak said.

The Titans (5-4) have won two of three overall after a 30-3 rout of Carolina on Sunday to stay 1 1/2 games behind the Houston Texans (7-3) in the division.

Their defense smothered Cam Newton and the rest of the Panthers’ offense, while Chris Johnson ran for a season-high 130 yards. They even got a touchdown on a punt return.

“I hope it continues,” Munchak said Monday of the Titans’ success against the NFC. “We’d like to see that happen. It’s hard to figure out why that is, but I hope the pattern stays the same. … Going to Atlanta’s going to be a great challenge.”

With the win in Carolina, the Titans are 27-10 against the NFC since realignment in 2002, and that’s the second-best interconference winning rate in the NFL in that time at 73 percent behind only New England (33-5, 86.8 percent) with Pittsburgh at 72.4 percent (27-10-1).

Munchak has been preaching that the stretch run offers a fresh start for a team still set on winning the AFC South. The Titans are a win away from matching the six victories of last season, and this team won only once in the final nine games in a finish that led to the decision to cut Vince Young and part ways with coach Jeff Fisher.

The new coach said he never set a number for wins in his first season except enough to win the division.

“That’s our goal, that’s been our goal,” Munchak said. “I don’t know how many that’s going to take. Obviously, it’s going to take a lot more than we have right now. We’re in position to be able to do that so we just got to look at it that way that there’s no number. Just whatever number gets us into the playoffs.”

Munchak has encouraged his Titans to forget about the stats and rankings built up through the first eight games. The Titans seem to have seized upon this idea that they can start fresh despite being last in the NFL in rushing and other struggles.

“The biggest thing is we do have seven more, and we have to take them one at a time,” receiver Damian Williams said.

“I’ve told a couple people that before I don’t remember too many 12-4 teams not making the playoffs. If we go one at a time and keep doing what we’re doing and play our best football at the end of the season, I think we’ll have a good shot.”

The Titans spoke while Texans coach Gary Kubiak announced a significant foot injury to his starting quarterback Matt Schaub.

But the Titans can be encouraged by their own play in Carolina. Johnson had 177 yards from scrimmage as the offense finally looked to be in synch running the ball with the offensive line opening big holes for him.

“You watch the tape, yeah that’s us,” Munchak said. “That’s how we block. That’s how we play.”

Williams had 107 yards receiving off five catches to give Tennessee a 100-yard receiver and 100-yard rusher for the first time this season. Matt Hasselbeck threw a touchdown pass in his ninth straight game, his longest such streak to start a season in his career.

The defense had a season-high five sacks and held the Panthers to 279 yards, looking more like the unit that was the NFL’s stingiest in points allowed early in October while starting 3-1. The Titans did it despite starting three rookies on defense with a fourth, tackle Karl Klug, getting plenty of work as well.

Marc Mariani, a Pro Bowl returner as a rookie, also pitched in with his first touchdown this season off a 79-yard punt return.

The Titans had nine penalties for 92 yards, but Munchak noted they didn’t have any offsides, false starts, illegal motions. He used video of the penalties they were flagged for as teaching moments trying to clean up those mistakes.

“You get a chance to run the ball, it’s good for everybody,” Munchak said.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Tennessee Titans’ strategy was simple — put on spy on Cam Newton and try to confuse him.

It worked to perfection.

Tennessee’s defense left the rookie shaking his head in disbelief after its 30-3 rout of the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

The Titans (5-4) sacked Newton five times, intercepted him once and took away Carolina’s downfield passing game. Carolina came in ranked fifth in the league on offense and first in plays of 20-plus yards, but the Titans limited Newton to 209 yards passing and held Steve Smith’s, the NFC’s leading receiver, to 33 yards.

Chris Johnson ran for a season-high 130 yards and scored a touchdown, most of his yards coming in the second half after the Tennessee defense had set the tone.

The Titans sacked Newton four times on first down and put the Panthers in several third-and-long situations.

“(Newton) holds the ball,” said defensive tackle Jurrell Casey. “If a quarterback is going to hold onto the ball like that, we’re going to get to him. We kept him in the pocket. He couldn’t do anything but sit there. Having the spy on him meant he couldn’t run, and our guys got to him.”

After the game, Newton still seemed confused over what the Titans did exactly to disrupt what had been a potent offense throughout the first half of the season. Newton said he couldn’t remember playing quarterback in a game in which his team didn’t score a touchdown.

“Never, ever, ever,” Newton said.

Newton’s longest completion was 19 yards, and the Panthers failed to pick up a first down on seven of their 13 possessions.

“This is embarrassing, man,” Newton repeated three times while shaking his head. “This is as poor of a performance as a team as I’ve ever seen. Poor performance by myself. There’s no pointing fingers without looking at yourself and asking yourself what you could have done better. I know I could have done a lot of things better. It’s a reality check, that’s what it is. “

The Panthers (2-7) came in averaging 415 yards and more than 23 points per game behind a big-play offense, but Tennessee’s defense completely took away their downfield passing game — and just about everything else.

At times Newton rolled out in the pocket and couldn’t find anyone to throw the ball to.

“The thing is, Cam has the ability to extend plays, then slingshot one down the field 50 or 60 yards,” said Titans safety Jonathan Babineaux. “We knew coming into the game they had some down-the-field threats, and we couldn’t let No. 1 get comfortable. We did a good job of harassing him and making sure he didn’t have time to get back on his feet and make accurate throws.”

The Titans finally got Johnson involved in the offense.

He came in with only 366 yards rushing, but had 174 yards from scrimmage and eclipsed 100 yards rushing for the first time since Oct. 2. Johnson had 104 yards rushing in the second half and scored his second touchdown of the season on a 1-yard run late in the fourth quarter.

Johnnson’s touchdown was set up by Matt Hasselbeck, who scampered 21 yards on a quarterback bootleg before getting knocked out of bounds at the Carolina 1 without much of an effort from the veteran to score.

As Johnson entered the media room, Hasselbeck walked out and yelled, “Fantasy points!”

“Matt told me I was on his fantasy team, and that he stepped out at the 1 to help me get in the end zone,” Johnson said with a laugh. “So everyone has to thank Matt and all the fantasy owners.”

Said Titans coach Mike Munchak: “We finally gave him carries. This was one of those games we have been waiting for.”

The Titans piled up 172 yards on the ground.

“We were on the same page as an offense, executing plays,” Johnson said. “Some of the plays we ran in the second half, we’d run in the first half and didn’t have a lot of success. There are those situations as an offensive line and as a running back to get more of those opportunities to run the same plays, and eventually, it will work out.”

The Panthers appeared to be sleepwalking early on after coming off a bye week.

After Carolina went three-and-out on its first possession, Marc Mariani returned Jason Baker’s punt 79 yards for a 7-0 lead. It was the third long punt return for a touchdown allowed by the Panthers this season and the 11th against Baker, the most of any active punter in the NFL.

Tennessee quickly made it 14-0 on its first possession when Damian Williams turned a short pass from Hasselbeck into a 43-yard scoring play after defensive backs Sherrod Martin and Darius Butler missed tackles. Williams finished with 107 yards receiving.

Hasselbeck was 15 of 27 for 219 yards with his only mistake, a third-quarter interception, leading to a Carolina field goal. Even then, the Tennessee defense held after the Panthers took over deep in Titans territory.

Five of Carolina’s eight first-half drives ended in three-and-outs and two others were halted by costly mistakes by tight end Greg Olsen.

Olsen fumbled in the red zone early on then dropped an easy 16-yard reception late in the first half that would have made for a short field goal attempt by Olindo Mare. Instead, Mare missed the ensuing 50-yard kick on the final play of the first half, and the Titans took a 17-0 lead into the locker room.

“We didn’t do anything right,” Olsen said. “There isn’t one thing that we can hang our hat on. It was just an overall pathetic effort by us.”