Titans Ease Their Pain

Derrick Mason needed only 17 seconds to get the Tennessee Titans in the right frame of mind.

Mason returned the opening kickoff 101 yards and Kevin Dyson caught a 28-yard touchdown pass Sunday as the Titans rebounded with a 20-7 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

As they lined up for the opening kick, the Titans (4-5) were still smarting from their Monday night game against Baltimore. They lost, 16-10, when Dyson caught a pass and was stopped at the one-yard line, and Steve McNair failed to score on a sneak on the last play.

Celebration replaced frustration when Mason took the kickoff, found a clear path to the right and headed down the sideline untouched. By the time he reached the end zone for the third-longest kickoff return in franchise history, the celebrating Titans had forgotten all about the Ravens.

“That was huge, a great way to start it off,” defensive tackle Jason Fisk said. “There was still a hangover for us. That kind of got rid of the hangover.”

The Pro Bowl kick returner didn’t need much help. His blockers formed a clear path, and all he had to do was avoid kicker Neil Rackers near the 40-yard line.

“We challenged ourselves to get something going,” Mason said. “On the opening kickoff, we got everything going. Basically, I ran to daylight.”

McNair took it from there, passing and scrambling around the Bengals (4-5) even though his right hand was heavily wrapped. McNair reinjured his thumb against Baltimore and couldn’t grip a ball at midweek.

McNair completed five consecutive passes on a drive that set up Joe Nedney’s 41-yard field goal in the first quarter, and threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Dyson that made it 17-7 late in the third quarter.

McNair completed 16 of 25 passes for 172 yards and scrambled five times for 68 yards, seven more than Eddie George managed in 23 carries. After the game, he walked around with his right hand engulfed by a big bag of ice.

“I managed to throw some decent balls and also some bad ones,” said McNair, who felt pain on his follow-through. “I felt if I was going to throw a good ball, I had to block it out of my mind.”

The Titans clamped down on Corey Dillon, limiting him to 38 yards in 17 carries, and made things rough for Jon Kitna, who had two passes intercepted, fumbled once and was sacked once.

After a 2-0 start, the NFL’s worst team of the past decade has lost five of seven. Kitna completed 23 of 41 for 234 yards, but couldn’t overcome a poor running game.

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100-Yard War

It’s feast or famine for the Bengal offense, which is completely reliant upon Corey Dillon. Cincinnati averages 26 points a game when Dillon rushes for 100 yards, and only 10.3 points when he doesn’t. Dillon gained only 38 yards in 17 carries in the Bengals’ 20-7 loss to Tennessee.

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Four Five Wins Losses Carries 100 84 Yards 485 236 Avg. 4.9 2.8 TDs 4 1 100-yard games 3 0

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