Monday, November 19, 2001
Titans bounce back from demoralizing loss
Climb into tie with Bengals in division
By JOE KAY
AP Sports Writer
CINCINNATI — Jeff Fisher sounded like a proud papa.
The Titans coach stepped in front of the microphones and readily conceded that Tennessee did a lot of things wrong in a 20-7 victory Sunday over the Cincinnati Bengals.
No matter. After watching his injury-riddled team rebound from its toughest loss of the season, Fisher marveled at its fortitude.
“I've been fortunate to be on the winning side of a lot of games the last couple of years with this club, but I'd have to say this one is definitely way up there,” he said. “Considering what this football team went through this week, for them to emotionally overcome what happened and then come back and play was very impressive.”
Fisher wasn't sure what he'd get out of the beat-up Titans (4-5), who had pains that went way beyond Steve McNair's swollen thumb. As they lined up for the opening kick Sunday, they were still smarting from their last game.
McNair failed to get into the end zone on the final play of a 16-10 loss to Baltimore on Monday night, a setback that could have scuttled the Titans' season.
McNair reinjured his right thumb in that game and couldn't even grip a football at midweek. The tight ends were hurt and the rest of the roster was having a hard time coming to grips with the Monday night loss.
“After last week, we were kind of dazed a little bit,” running back Eddie George said.
Derrick Mason needed only 17 seconds to change the deflation into elation. The Pro Bowl returner ran the opening kickoff back 101 yards — the third-longest kickoff return in franchise history — and the Titans were back to normal.
“We were fortunate enough to put everything behind us,” said Mason, who wasn't even touched on the return. “We practiced hard all week and we wanted to get this thing on a roll quickly.”
While the Titans got rolling, the Bengals (4-5) kept sliding. One of the NFL's early surprises is reverting to the form that made it the league's worst team of the past 10 years.
Since going 2-0, the Bengals have lost five of seven, giving them a losing record for the first time this season.
They also seem to be losing their focus as well. Coach Dick LeBeau was so unhappy with his team's practice on Friday that he scolded the players and kept them on the field longer.
It didn't work.
“When you lose like we have to Tennessee — as many times as we have in a row — as a coach your back gets stiff about that,” LeBeau said. “I wanted them to know I don't like losing to the same team all the time like we have.”
They lost their seventh in a row to the Titans because they couldn't stop McNair, who felt pain his thumb every time he threw. McNair completed 16-of-25 for 172 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Dyson in the third quarter.
McNair also scrambled five times for 68 yards, seven more than George managed and 30 yards more than Cincinnati's Corey Dillon had in the game.
“I felt I had to go out there today,” said McNair, who played with his thumb wrapped. “We had to win this football game.”
Notes: Titans left tackle Brad Hopkins broke his left hand. Otherwise, neither team suffered a significant injury. ... Tennessee intercepted Jon Kitna twice, forced him to fumble and got one sack — Jevon Kearse's sixth in his last three games. ... Mason's kickoff return for a touchdown was the first against the Bengals since 1996, when the Colts' Aaron Beasley ran one back. ... Ken Hall's 104-yard kickoff return against the New York Titans in 1960 stands as the franchise record. ... Despite increased security at Paul Brown Stadium since the terrorist attacks, a shirtless man was able to run from the stands during the 2-minute warning, make it to midfield, drop his pants and hop around before getting arrested. “It was funny,” McNair said.
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Titans bounce back from demoralizing loss
