Chris Johnson and the Tennessee Titans ran by in a flash and the Buffalo Bills’ season seems to be doing the same.

Johnson ran for 153 yards and two touchdowns, including a 48-yard dash in the second quarter that gave the Titans the lead for good in Sunday’s 23-17 win over the Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

The Titans finished the day with 187 rushing yards and Matt Hasselbeck completed 16-of-25 passes for 140 yards.

“At the beginning of the season the passing game carried us, but now it’s time for the running game to step it up,” said Johnson.

Rob Bironas added three field goals, including a 44-yarder in the fourth that gave the Titans a 23-10 lead.

C.J. Spiller, starting for the second consecutive week in place of the injured Fred Jackson, rushed for 80 his career-high 83 yards in the first half.

“In my first start last year, I was doing a lot of thinking in the game and I really wouldn’t let my ability take over,” said Spiller. “Now, I’m just going out there and playing football, just playing the way I always played.”

Spiller also had a 41-yard touchdown in the first quarter nullified by a holding penalty against fullback Corey McIntyre.

“I don’t know what the ref saw, but when you don’t touch a person, let him spin, and don’t even grab him,” said McIntyre. “You be the judge of that. You can call it phantom or whatever, but I know that wasn’t a hold.”

Spiller gave the Bills a 7-3 lead when he recovered his own fumble in the end zone after a 30-yard run down the left sideline.

Titans safety Michael Griffin knocked the ball out of Spiller’s grasp at the 5-yard line and the ball bounced into the end zone. Referees initially ruled Spiller recovered it out the back of the end zone for a touchback, giving Tennessee the ball at the Buffalo 20.

However, a replay challenge overturned the play to a touchdown. Tennessee (7-5), which has won three of four, took the lead on its next  drive on Johnson’s long touchdown run and the running back added a  four-yard score later in the half to make it 17-7.

“If we can run the ball that well, we become a tough team to stop,”  said Titans head coach Mike Munchak.

The Bills got closer with Ryan Fitzpatrick’s two-yard touchdown pass to Stevie Johnson on 4th down with just under three minutes to go in the fourth, but a once promising 5-2 start has turned into a five-game losing streak.

“We’ve still got resolve to go out there and win every game,” said Bills tight end Scott Chandler, had a fumble that set up an 11-play drive for Tennessee that use up more than six minutes of the clock in the third quarter capped by a Bironas field goal. “We were set up in pretty good shape and we need to get back to winning.”

Fitzpatrick finished 29-of-46 for 288 yards and Brad Smith, in his second straight start at wide receiver, caught a career-best seven passes for 72 yards. Stevie Johnson had five catches for 52 yards for Buffalo (5-7).

“I think the reason we lost was fundamentals,” said Bills head coach Chan Gailey. “You’ve got to block, you’ve got to tackle, and you’ve got to take care of the football. Those are the things that happened to us in this game that we didn’t get the job done to win and you have to do those things, fundamentally, in order to be able to win.”

Rookie Colin McCarthy, starting at middle linebacker for Tennessee in place of the injured Barrett Ruud (groin), had a team-best eight tackles, as well as a forced fumble that led to a Chris Johnson touchdown and a fumble recovery that set up a field goal.

“If you want to make a run at this thing in December you need guys to make plays and that’s what we saw today,” said Munchak.

Notebook: The game was blacked out on local TV because it failed to sell out. The announced attendance was 56,463 … Bills safety George Wilson (neck) missed his third straight game … Spiller also had a 41-yard touchdown run in the first half negated by a holding penalty against fullback Corey McIntyre … Johnson had his third 100-yard game in the last four weeks after only through the first eight games of the season … Bills LB Nick Barnett had a game-high 10 tackles and a sack.

A month ago, the Bills were playoff contenders. Now they are closer to last place than second place in the AFC East.

“I’ve never lost five in a row, ever,” Buffalo linebacker Nick Barnett said. “Pop Warner, baseball, all that stuff, so this is new territory for me and I’m sure for a lot of guys. It doesn’t feel good, and I’m sure they don’t like it and I don’t like it.”

From 5-2 to 5-7 — with the possibility of going from first to last in the division — the Bills fall has been fast and furious. A fizzling offense coupled with a defense that has plenty of holes has left the Bills staring at their 12th straight non-playoff season.

“Extremely shocked and disappointed, all those words,” said quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who finished 29 of 46 for 288 yards. “It’s been really disappointing these last five weeks. It just seemed like when a play needed to be made we didn’t make it, and they did. That was the difference.”

A rejuvenated Johnson didn’t help matters. Held under 100 yards seven times in his first eight games, Johnson now has topped the century mark three times in his last four outings.

He scored on runs of 48 and 4 yards to match his season touchdown total. Kicker Rob Bironas did the rest, hitting three field goals, including a 44-yarder midway through the fourth quarter to put the Titans ahead 23-10.

Johnson had 106 yards in the first half.

“We were two different defenses,” Barnett said. “The first half we let (Johnson) make some big plays, and he made them.”

C.J. Spiller had a career-best 83 yards rushing and scored on a 35-yard touchdown run in his second start since Fred Jackson broke a bone in his leg. Receiver Stevie Johnson toned down his touchdown celebration after scoring on a 2-yard catch with 2:58 left to make the game close.

Johnson had been criticized for much of the past week over his celebration in a 28-24 loss to the New York Jets. Johnson was fined $10,000 by the NFL for mocking Jets receiver Plaxico Burress, pretending to shoot himself in the thigh. He was also flagged 15 yards for going to the ground in pretending to be a crashing plane.

This time, Johnson kept his arms to himself and politely handed the ball to the nearest official.

The Titans (7-5) converted two Bills turnovers into 10 points.

Rookie linebacker Colin McCarthy stripped Fitzpatrick on a fourth-and-3 scramble and recovered it at the Titans 43-yard line. Six plays later, Johnson scored on a 4-yard scamper up the middle to put Tennessee up 17-7.

McCarthy also recovered tight end Scott Chandler’s fumble at the Titans 37 to end the Bills’ first possession of the second half. That set up a time-consuming 11-play, 54-yard drive capped by Bironas hitting a 27-yard field goal to give Tennessee a 20-10 lead.

Spiller gave the Bills a 7-3 lead midway through the fourth quarter when he beat the Titans to the left corner and cut it up the sideline. He was chased down from behind by Michael Griffin, who punched the ball loose inside the 10. The ball ricocheted off Spiller’s left knee and was bouncing out of the end zone when the running back made a diving attempt to secure it before sliding out.

Officials initially ruled it a touchback, before reversing the call to a touchdown after replays showed Spiller had control of the ball while inbounds.

The Bills never regained the lead after that.

“It’s a drastic difference from where we were to where we are now,” Bills receiver Brad Smith said. “We look at ourselves in the mirror, and know it’s on us.”

Notes: Johnson’s 48-yard TD run was his longest since scoring a 76-yard touchdown in the 2010 season opener. … Fitzpatrick’s TD pass gave him 20 this season, becoming the first Bills player to throw that many in consecutive years since Jim Kelly did it in 1994-95. … The Bills honored Allen Wilson, longtime beat writer for The Buffalo News, who died Saturday of leukemia. Flowers and a framed picture of “Big Al” were placed at his seat in the press box. Bills safety and captain George Wilson spoke for the players in issuing his condolences, calling the writer a “good man” and “genuine guy.”

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.”

By TERESA M. WALKER
AP Sports Writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Mike Munchak and the Tennessee Titans are choosing to be optimistic midway through the season, seeing the eight remaining games as a chance to go streaking toward the playoffs.

First, they better figure out how to stop the rollercoaster ride of the first eight games.

The Titans (4-4) have lost 3 of 4, wasting a 3-game homestand with a 24-17 loss to Cincinnati in which they blew a 10-point halftime lead. Now it only gets tougher with 5 of their final games on the road starting Sunday with a visit to Carolina (2-6).

Munchak said Monday this loss hurts because they had been in position to win and didn’t at home.

“There were still a lot of good things in that game. We have eight football games to play. A lot can happen in this league,” Munchak said.

The Titans started the season 3-1, and Munchak said they’re sitting here miserable at 4-4.

“We don’t by any means feel sorry for ourselves. We know we’ve got to play better. We see what we’re capable of in flashes, but it’s just not consistent. And that’s what’s happening now. We’re not consistently doing things that we can to put us in winning position,” Munchak said.

It helps that the AFC’s best teams are 6-2, and Houston is 6-3 in the AFC South.

“Nobody is out of reach,” right guard Jake Scott said. “There’s nobody running away with it. On the other side, there’s not that many teams out of it completely. It’s going to be very interesting in the AFC going down the next two months.”

Before the Titans can make a run at even another winning streak, they need to string together consecutive drives, quarters and halves. They blew a 17-7 halftime lead by being held to only 95 yards total offense by Cincinnati in the final 30 minutes Sunday.

On the plus side, the Titans showed signs of life in the running game really for the first time all season. Chris Johnson had 55 yards on nine carries for an average of 6.1 yards per carry with a long of 20 where the 3-time Pro Bowler flashed some of his trademark speed. He also had two catches for 22 yards in the first half.

Munchak said Johnson probably was excited seeing bigger holes.

But Johnson got his hands on the ball only seven more times in the second half and had just 9 more yards rushing on five carries. He never had a carry in the fourth quarter even though the Titans trailed only 21-17 when they got the ball back with 10:52 left.

Munchak credited the Bengals with keeping eight players at the line to stop Johnson, and the Titans couldn’t take advantage of the stack near the line through the air. Matt Hasselbeck finished with 272 yards passing, but only 106 in the second half.

It only got worse inside the final 2 minutes with tight end Jared Cook having a sore knee. Nate Washington caught a pass and went down with a bruised hip, forcing a 10-second runoff since Tennessee had no timeouts. Lavelle Hawkins returned after having an open dislocated finger, but couldn’t lateral the ball to keep the final play alive.

“It’s frustrating when you don’t continue to make plays,” Munchak said. “We have to put ourselves in position.”

The defense had its own struggles. The Titans held Cincinnati to 139 yards in the first half, then couldn’t get off the field in the second half. One play summed up Tennessee’s struggles when safety Michael Griffin and cornerback Jason McCourty crashed into each other trying to defend a pass to A.J. Green, knocking them to the ground for a few minutes.

The challenge gets tougher. After Carolina, the Titans visit Atlanta with a home game against Tampa Bay squeezed between another road game at Buffalo.

Dropping two home games puts the pressure on them to make those up on the road, according to Scott.

“I think we’re a good enough team to do that,” Scott said. “We just have to do that.”

Notes: Munchak said S Chris Hope will practice Wednesday for the first time since breaking his left forearm Oct. 2 at Cleveland. Munchak also said Cook (bruised knee), Washington and Hawkins may be limited a bit Wednesday.

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

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mike Munchak and the Tennessee Titans [team stats] are choosing to be optimistic midway through the season, seeing the eight remaining games as a chance to go streaking toward the playoffs.

First, they better figure out how to stop the rollercoaster ride of the first eight games.

The Titans (4-4) have lost three of four, wasting a three-game homestand with a 24-17 loss to Cincinnati in which they blew a 10-point halftime lead. Now it only gets tougher with five of their final games on the road starting Sunday with a visit to Carolina (2-6).

Munchak said Monday this loss hurts because they had been in position to win and didn’t at home.

“There were still a lot of good things in that game. We have eight football games to play. A lot can happen in this league,” Munchak said.

The Titans started the season 3-1, and Munchak said they’re sitting here miserable at 4-4.

“We don’t by any means feel sorry for ourselves. We know we’ve got to play better. We see what we’re capable of in flashes, but it’s just not consistent. And that’s what’s happening now. We’re not consistently doing things that we can to put us in winning position,” Munchak said.

It helps that the AFC’s best teams are 6-2, and Houston is 6-3 in the AFC South.

“Nobody is out of reach,” right guard Jake Scott said. “There’s nobody running away with it. On the other side, there’s not that many teams out of it completely. It’s going to be very interesting in the AFC going down the next two months.”

Before the Titans can make a run at even another winning streak, they need to string together consecutive drives, quarters and halves. They blew a 17-7 halftime lead by being held to only 95 yards total offense by Cincinnati in the final 30 minutes Sunday.

On the plus side, the Titans showed signs of life in the running game really for the first time all season. Chris Johnson had 55 yards on nine carries for an average of 6.1 yards per carry with a long of 20 where the three-time Pro Bowler flashed some of his trademark speed. He also had two catches for 22 yards in the first half.

Munchak said Johnson probably was excited seeing bigger holes.

But Johnson got his hands on the ball only seven more times in the second half and had just 9 more yards rushing on five carries. He never had a carry in the fourth quarter even though the Titans trailed only 21-17 when they got the ball back with 10:52 left.

Munchak credited the Bengals with keeping eight players at the line to stop Johnson, and the Titans couldn’t take advantage of the stack near the line through the air. Matt Hasselbeck finished with 272 yards passing, but only 106 in the second half.

It only got worse inside the final 2 minutes with tight end Jared Cook having a sore knee. Nate Washington caught a pass and went down with a bruised hip, forcing a 10-second runoff since Tennessee had no timeouts. Lavelle Hawkins returned after having an open dislocated finger, but couldn’t lateral the ball to keep the final play alive.

“It’s frustrating when you don’t continue to make plays,” Munchak said. “We have to put ourselves in position.”

The Titans (4-4) have lost three of four, wasting a three-game homestand with a 24-17 loss to Cincinnati in which they blew a 10-point halftime lead. Now it only gets tougher with five of their final games on the road starting Sunday with a visit to Carolina (2-6).

Munchak said Monday this loss hurts because they had been in position to win and didn’t at home.

“There were still a lot of good things in that game. We have eight football games to play. A lot can happen in this league,” Munchak said.

The Titans started the season 3-1, and Munchak said they’re sitting here miserable at 4-4.

“We don’t by any means feel sorry for ourselves. We know we’ve got to play better. We see what we’re capable of in flashes, but it’s just not consistent. And that’s what’s happening now. We’re not consistently doing things that we can to put us in winning position,” Munchak said.

It helps that the AFC’s best teams are 6-2, and Houston is 6-3 in the AFC South.

“Nobody is out of reach,” right guard Jake Scott said. “There’s nobody running away with it. On the other side, there’s not that many teams out of it completely. It’s going to be very interesting in the AFC going down the next two months.”

Before the Titans can make a run at even another winning streak, they need to string together consecutive drives, quarters and halves. They blew a 17-7 halftime lead by being held to only 95 yards total offense by Cincinnati in the final 30 minutes Sunday.

On the plus side, the Titans showed signs of life in the running game really for the first time all season. Chris Johnson had 55 yards on nine carries for an average of 6.1 yards per carry with a long of 20 where the three-time Pro Bowler flashed some of his trademark speed. He also had two catches for 22 yards in the first half.

Munchak said Johnson probably was excited seeing bigger holes.

But Johnson got his hands on the ball only seven more times in the second half and had just 9 more yards rushing on five carries. He never had a carry in the fourth quarter even though the Titans trailed only 21-17 when they got the ball back with 10:52 left.

Munchak credited the Bengals with keeping eight players at the line to stop Johnson, and the Titans couldn’t take advantage of the stack near the line through the air. Matt Hasselbeck finished with 272 yards passing, but only 106 in the second half.

It only got worse inside the final 2 minutes with tight end Jared Cook having a sore knee. Nate Washington caught a pass and went down with a bruised hip, forcing a 10-second runoff since Tennessee had no timeouts. Lavelle Hawkins returned after having an open dislocated finger, but couldn’t lateral the ball to keep the final play alive.

“It’s frustrating when you don’t continue to make plays,” Munchak said. “We have to put ourselves in position.”

The defense had its own struggles. The Titans held Cincinnati to 139 yards in the first half, then couldn’t get off the field in the second half. One play summed up Tennessee’s struggles when safety Michael Griffin and cornerback Jason McCourty crashed into each other trying to defend a pass to A.J. Green, knocking them to the ground for a few minutes.

The challenge gets tougher. After Carolina, the Titans visit Atlanta with a home game against Tampa Bay squeezed between another road game at Buffalo.

Dropping two home games puts the pressure on them to make those up on the road, according to Scott.

“I think we’re a good enough team to do that,” Scott said. “We just have to do that.”

Notes: Munchak said S Chris Hope will practice Wednesday for the first time since breaking his left forearm Oct. 2 at Cleveland. Munchak also said Cook (bruised knee), Washington and Hawkins may be limited a bit Wednesday.

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

Titans look for answers after loss

By Associated Press

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans spent their bye week trying to fix their run game.

Now, they have even more work to do.

The Titans finished with a season-low 148 yards on offense, Chris Johnson ran just 10 times for 18 yards and the defense missed tackles all over Sunday in a 41-7 rout by the Houston Texans.

Their second straight loss pushed the Titans (3-3) out of the AFC South lead and looking for answers.

“We’ve got to figure it out because you can’t play like this and beat anybody,” Titans coach Mike Munchak said.

The Titans managed only 14 yards of offense in the first quarter, while letting Arian Foster run for 48 of his 115 yards.

The Titans held the ball for just 22 minutes, 2 seconds and converted only 2 of 10 third downs. Matt Hasselbeck was intercepted twice with one returned for a TD, and he was surprised by the struggles after thinking the Titans were ready to play.

Backup running back Javon Ringer outgained Johnson with 31 yards rushing, and fans booed Johnson early and often.

Johnson said he was frustrated with the running struggles and that those who know football can tell what the problems are.

“I’m very confident that I’ve been doing the things that I’ve been having to do,” Johnson said. “It’s a situation where I continue to say that I can’t do anything but keep running hard and working hard and doing what I can for this team.”

Hasselbeck was 14 of 30 for 104 yards with a 38.8 passer rating, a big drop for a quarterback who had been the AFC’s second-rated passer behind only Tom Brady coming into the game.

But receiver Damian Williams, who replaced the injured Kenny Britt at starter, had headaches after hitting the ground on a long pass play attempt and missed the second half.

The game got out of hand and Titans rookie QB Jake Locker came in with 9:32 left and completed his lone pass for 12 yards for his first NFL completion.

The Texans (4-3) snapped a two-game skid even with Pro Bowl receiver Andre Johnson missing his third straight game and fullback James Casey his second because of injuries.

Foster ran for 115 yards and two touchdowns and added 119 more receiving with a 78-yard TD as the Texans took back the division lead from Tennessee.

He became the first Texan with 100 yards rushing and receiving in the same game. Matt Schaub threw for 296 yards and two TDs, and the Texans won in Nashville for the second time in three years.

“It’s big going forward for us to know that’s what we’re capable of as a team,” Schaub said.

Houston outgained the Titans 518-148 and had the ball for more than 37 minutes. Ben Tate ran for 104 yards, marking the first time the Texans have had two backs top 100 yards in the same game in their short history.

“It’s hard to run on the road, and it was a very big game,” Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. “We get a chance to win like that and to grasp it and play the way we played in the second half is what made me feel good.”

Tennessee managed to force Houston to punt on its first two drives. Then the missed tackles and penalties starting piling up as the Texans scored on six of the next seven possessions in blowing out their rival.

Neil Rackers started it with the first of two field goals. Danieal Manning’s interception pinned Houston at its own 13, but Schaub finished off an 87-yard drive with a 10-yard TD pass to Joel Dreessen midway through the second quarter.

Houston needed four plays on the next drive when Schaub rolled to his right, stopped and threw back across the field to Foster who caught the ball and easily outraced the Titans to finish off a 78-yard TD for a 17-0 lead.

Schaub had been banged up in the past two games. Against Tennessee, he had plenty of time to throw and was rarely touched.

Foster capped a 92-yard drive by leaping over the top for a 1-yard TD, giving the Texans a 27-0 lead late in the third quarter that was so big they couldn’t let it slip away as they did in the past two losses. He added a 5-yard run early in the fourth.

“I’m just starting to get back to my football shape,” Foster said.

Going no-huddle with Ringer in for Johnson helped the Titans avoid the shutout, and Hasselbeck capped the drive with a 5-yard TD pass to Jared Cook with 5:34 left in the third.

Story created Oct 24, 2011 – 13:19:45 EDT.

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