McNair’s Air Show Is Real Crowd Pleaser

Tennessee Coach Jeff Fisher sent backup quarterback Billy Volek in to handle the final snap Sunday, allowing Steve McNair to walk off the field to a standing ovation from the fans still in the stands.

The attention caught McNair by surprise.

“I didn’t know what was going on when I came out,” McNair said. “It was a great feeling.”

McNair earned it. He had a perfect quarterback rating in the first half, finished with a career-high 421 yards passing and threw three touchdowns to Derrick Mason to help the Titans rout the Houston Texans, 38-17, Sunday.

McNair helped the Titans gain 535 yards, their highest total since November 1991, their run-and-shoot days at Houston.

The Titans (4-2) returned for their only home game in October determined to erase the memory of last week’s loss at New England. It wasn’t hard against Houston (2-3), which had three passes intercepted, one for a touchdown.

Erron Kinney dropped McNair’s first pass on the Titans’ second play, but McNair completed his next 12, including touchdown passes of 32 and 46 yards to Mason for a 14-0 lead.

McNair had plenty of time to pass. When the Texans pressured him, McNair still completed his throws. Linebacker Antwan Peek was so frustrated he pounded the ground after McNair threw a seven-yard completion to Mason.

McNair completed 11 of 12 passes for 233 yards and a perfect 158.3 rating in the first half. He finished 18 of 27, which included a 50-yard touchdown pass to Mason at the start of the fourth quarter to give the Titans a 30-10 lead.

The victory was the 80th for Fisher, making him the fourth-youngest coach to reach the milestone behind John Madden, Don Shula and Bill Cowher.

David Carr had a career-high 371 yards passing and two touchdowns, including one of 65 yards to Corey Bradford.