Titan Backup Plan Works

The Tennessee Titans thought until kickoff that injured Steve McNair would start. He didn’t, and backup Billy Volek made sure his absence didn’t hurt them -- even though Volek was ill himself.

In his first NFL start, Volek threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as Tennessee snapped a two-game losing streak by rallying for a 28-26 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

“What can you say about Billy’s effort?” Titan Coach Jeff Fisher said. “That is a very tough defense to throw against. Billy hung in there and took a lot of hits. He made big plays.”

Volek, a four-year veteran who was undrafted out of Fresno State, filled in ably against the NFL’s second-best defense even though he had flu-like symptoms the previous few days.

He completed 26 of 41 passes for 295 yards in helping the Titans hold the ball for nearly 37 minutes.

“Obviously, my emotions were running pretty high,” Volek said. “I found out about an hour before the game, after warmups, that I was probably going to go” in place of McNair, who has a cracked bone spur in his left ankle.

Volek didn’t eat or drink much Sunday and got dizzy in the shower after the game. He received intravenous fluids.

Buffalo had one last chance to force overtime when Drew Bledsoe drove the Bills 81 yards in nine plays before finding Mark Campbell on a six-yard touchdown pass with 24 seconds left.

But Bobby Shaw couldn’t control a low pass in the right corner of the end zone on the two-point conversion try. Shaw said he caught the ball, but it was ruled incomplete. A replay review was inconclusive.

Erron Kinney recovered the Bills’ on-side kick to clinch the victory.

Buffalo Coach Gregg Williams said he couldn’t wait to see the film, and Bledsoe said it appeared to be a tremendous catch.

“We’ve seen that kind of ruling a number of times this year with our team, other teams. If you don’t possess the ball the whole way down, then they call it incomplete,” Bledsoe said.

Said Titan linebacker Keith Bulluck: “It was real close. I’m not certain at all. I’m glad I didn’t have to make the call.”

Tennessee (10-4) remains the AFC’s top contender for a wild-card berth, but Cincinnati’s 41-38 victory over San Francisco delayed the Titans from clinching their fourth postseason berth in five years.

The Titans eliminated Buffalo (6-8) by ending the Bills’ two-game winning streak.