This One Is Special for Titans

Maybe these Tennessee Titans are a special team. They’re certainly not just a .500 club anymore.

The special teams came through in the second half Sunday as the Titans, after trailing at halftime, pulled out a 33-21 victory over the Cleveland Browns.

In the third quarter, the recovery of rookie Kevin Johnson’s fumbled punt set up Steve McNair’s go-ahead touchdown run, and then Derrick Mason ran a punt back 65 yards for another touchdown.

Mason’s punt-return touchdown was the team’s first in 77 games.

Eddie George rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns as the Titans improved to 9-2 for the first time since 1991, when they were the Houston Oilers.

Tennessee had gone 8-8 in each of the last three seasons.

Tennessee’s defense sacked Cleveland rookie quarterback Tim Couch seven times and held the Browns to 81 yards rushing.

But for the first 30 minutes of the game, it looked as though the expansion Browns (2-10) might finally give Cleveland fans a chance to celebrate their first win at home. And it would have been a good day for it because Cleveland honored more than 120 former Brown players, including Hall of Famers Otto Graham and Lou Groza, at halftime.

Things began to unravel for the Browns when Johnson fielded a punt but was stripped near the sideline by Dainon Sidney and reserve linebacker Greg Favors recovered for the Titans at the Cleveland 21.

Three plays later, McNair rolled right and scored from the one.

A couple of series later, Mason cut right after catching a punt, found a seam and went the distance to give the Titans a 26-14 lead.