Oilers Find Themselves in Control

The Tennessee Oilers simply wore out one of the NFL’s stingiest defenses Sunday.

Steve McNair ran for two touchdowns and threw for a third as the Oilers held the ball for more than 38 minutes in defeating the Buffalo Bills, 31-14, to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

“From here on out, every game is do or die,” McNair said of the Oilers (6-6), who play the Cowboys in Dallas on Thanksgiving.

The Bills (5-7) had given up 13 touchdowns the 36 times the opposition had the ball inside the 20-yard-line this season, but the Oilers scored on three of their four trips into the red zone. An Eddie George fumble stopped them from scoring a fourth time.

The Oilers rushed for 163 yards, including 93 in 25 carries by George, who barely missed his seventh 100-yard game of the season. McNair also ran six times for 45 yards despite a sore chest, and completed 15 of 24 passes for 167 yards, including a two-yard scoring play to Derek Russell.

“We did things offensively that actually surprised me a little bit, knowing what they can do on defense,” Oiler Coach Jeff Fisher said.

Tennessee gained 322 yards and protected McNair well, giving up only two sacks to a team that had 37 going into the game. Bruce Smith, the AFC leader with 13 sacks, had only one tackle while lining up against Oiler tackle Brad Hopkins.

“A lot of guys surrounded me and made some good plays for me,” McNair said. “I don’t want to say I went out there and gave a great performance all by myself.”

Proof that it was the Oilers’ day came at the beginning of the third quarter. Tennessee held the ball for nearly six minutes and was forced to try a 51-yard field goal by Al Del Greco, who had missed four of his previous seven attempts. But his kick hit the middle of the cross bar and bounced over to give the Oilers a 24-7 lead.