Jake Locker returned to the lineup, his defense forced four turnovers and the Tennessee Titans (4-6) picked up a road win in a 37-3 pummeling of the Miami Dolphins (4-5).

“Our defense put us in some good situations all day,” said Locker. “It wasn’t pretty at times, but we found ways to move the chains.”

A dislocation to his non-throwing shoulder had sidelined Locker for the previous five games. In his first game back, the second year quarterback threw for just 122 yards on nine completions. Two of the nine completions, however, were touchdowns.

Chris Johnson’s 17 yard touchdown run late in the first quarter put Tennessee ahead 14-0 following a nine yard touchdown catch made by rookie receiver Kendall Wright. That drive needed only four plays to reach the end zone following a fumble by Reggie Bush that Tennessee recovered at the Miami 28 yard line.

Johnson ran all over the Dolphins defense with 126 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries.

Tennessee extended its lead to a three touchdown margin when linebacker Colin McCarthy intercepted Ryan Tannehill and returned it 49 yards to paydirt. Only three plays earlier, McCarthy was forced to leave the game due to a re-aggravation of an ankle injury he was battling.

“I just needed to settle down a little bit,” said McCarthy. “I got turned a little bit. I just had to take a couple plays off, but I got back in there.”

McCarthy’s pick was the first thrown by Tannehill in six weeks. He went on to throw two more, which resulted in field goals.

Tannehill completed more than twice as many passes as Locker, 23-9, and threw for nearly 100 yards more, 217-122, but it was Locker’s ability to preserve possessions by not turning the ball over that made all the difference in the final score.

Jared Cook’s 26 yard touchdown reception capped off an 85 yard drive to open the second half and gave the Titans a 31-3 advantage.

Dolphins coach Joe Philbin’s impatience grew thin, and he benched Bush and offensive lineman Richie Incognito for stretches following a fumble and a personal foul penalty, respectively.

“It was embarrassing, to say the least,” Dolphins defensive end Cameron Wake said of his team’s performance. “There’s no explanation, no excuse.”

Tennesse now enters its bye week, while the Dolphins will look to rebound up in Buffalo on a short week, as they face one of their AFC East rivals on Thursday night.

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Sunday night the Indianapolis Colts (4-3) had lost 10 consecutive road games dating back to last season, and they were ready to take a win any way they could get it.

For Andrew Luck and the Colts it took two 80 yard touchdown drives in the fourth quarter and overtime combined to seal the team’s first victory away from Lucas Oil Stadium in more than half a season on Sunday against their division rival, the Tennessee Titans (3-5).

Indianapolis running back, Vick Ballard, went airborne and semi-back-flipped toward the end zone on a 16 yard catch and run on the first and only possession of overtime to end the contest.

It was Luck’s only touchdown pass of the afternoon, but the timing was impeccable.

“I threw it and I saw a Titans uniform flash and I thought, ‘Oh, God, this may be the end of the game in the wrong way,’” said Luck, who threw for 297 yards. “What a wonderful individual effort by Vick Ballard to get it in there.”

Both teams put up field goals in the first quarter. Titans quarterback Matthew Hasselbeck, who threw for 236 yards and a touchdown, connected with rookie wide receiver Kendall Wright for a touchdown on a 23 yard pass toward the left sideline of the end zone with only a minute remaining in the first half.

The two sides traded field goals the rest of the way until late in the fourth quarter when Indianapolis trailed 13-6 and was in need of a touchdown to tie the game.

With 10:56 to go in regulation and at his own 20 yard line, Luck took what the defense gave him. He relied on safe throws to open targets, and with 3:24 left on the clock, running back, Delone Carter, made his way into the end zone from one yard out to tie the score.

Running the football was very much a success for Indianapolis. They totaled 171 yards on the ground. In fact, Luck was responsible for 28 of those yards on 6 rushes.

Titans running back Chris Johnson had 99 rushing yards of his own on 21 carries.

The Titans had their opportunity to win the game following Carter’s touchdown, but were forced to punt after moving the ball all the way down to the Indianapolis 41 yard line.

After winning the coin toss and choosing to receive, the Colts allowed running back, Donald Brown, to do most of the heavy lifting in overtime.

But it was a 3rd and 8 conversion that put Indianapolis in position to end the game with a touchdown. Luck found veteran receiver, Reggie Wayne, in the middle of the field for a 20 yard gain down to the Tennessee 16.

Two plays later, Ballard was sprinting toward the end zone on a short pass from Luck, doing all he could to make sure he could get the ball inside the left pylon as he flew around it with his face pointing toward the sky.

The play was ruled a touchdown on the field, and after review the call remained the same. The game was over and the Titans were left shell-shocked at how quickly things appeared to make a complete 180.

“I don’t really understand how we lost the game,” said Hasselbeck.

Tennessee’s hoping that this won’t be the start of a trend, given that they’ll be seeing a lot of Luck for years to come.

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With 195 rushing yards and two touchdowns, Chris Johnson carried the Tennessee Titans (3-4) on his back all day long.

But it was Matthew Hasselbeck’s heroic, lone touchdown pass– a 15 yarder to Nate Washington on 4^th and 9– while approaching the game’s final minute, which put Tennessee in a position to escape Buffalo with a 35-34 victory over the Bills (3-4) on Sunday.

“It’s a great feeling,” Hasselbeck said. “To pull through once again in a close game for our third win in a game that came down basically to the last play was a great feeling.”

The veteran Hasselbeck has led the Titans to two consecutive dramatic victories since replacing Jake Locker, who has been out with a dislocated non-throwing shoulder since Week 4 at Houston.

Each of the first three quarters saw at least three combined scores between the teams.

That theme made its way out the door in the fourth, however. There would be only a single occasion where either side made it on the board, and those points were just enough for Tennessee to squeak by yet again. Their three victories over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills have totaled a mere seven points.

“All of us, we really feel like a team,” said Hasselbeck. “It’s kind of an all hands on deck, whatever it takes to win is what we’re going to do.”

Buffalo trailed most of the game, but one wouldn’t get that sense after hearing the rather interesting comments of frustration made by Bills linebacker Nick Barnett.

“I’m really disappointed,” said Barnett. “They shouldn’t even be in the game with us. I mean I hate to sit here and say this because we lost, but they shouldn’t have been in this game. We should’ve beat them— bad.”

The Bills will be entering their bye week, while the Titans will host the 3-3 Indianapolis Colts.

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Before agreeing with management on a buyout of the final year of his contract in January of 2011, former Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher had held the longest tenure in the league at his position – 16 years. So when Tennesee entered the 2011 season under first-year head coach Mike Munchak, no one expected them to finish with a winning record of 9-7 in a loaded AFC and just narrowly miss out on making the postseason for the first time since 2008.

The man who played a major role in the Titans’ success last year was the wily old veteran, former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who led his team to a Super Bowl XL appearance against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Tennessee signed Hasselbeck to a three year, $21 million deal last July. He went on to start all 16 games in 2011, throwing for solid totals of 3,571 yards and 18 touchdowns.

But the Tennessee organization came to the conclusion this preseason that with Hasselbeck’s 37^th birthday quickly approaching at the end of the month and second-year quarterback Jake Locker waiting in the weeds, this was the perfect time to move toward the future and give Locker the starting job.

Locker impressed the coaching staff by completing 34 of 66 pass attempts for 542 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions in five short appearances last season.

Pro Bowl running back Chris Johnson, who ran for a league high of 2,006 yards just two years prior, got off to a more than disappointing start in 2011 after holding out for all of training camp and the entire preseason. He did, however, manage to finish with 1,047 rushing yards.

The most significant offseason loss from the Titans upcoming roster is former one-time Pro Bowl cornerback Cortland Finnegan, who signed a five year, $50 million contract with the St. Louis Rams this past March. The Titans hope that they will be able to maintain their quality defense without him, as they finished eighth overall in scoring defense last year, giving up an average of 19.8 points per game.

Seven-time Pro Bowl guard Steve Hutchinson was added to the mix after signing a three year deal with the Titans following his release from the Minnesota Vikings in March. Hutchinson over the years has been widely regarded as one of the best linemen in the game.

The Titans’ 2012 first round pick, Kendall Wright, a wide receiver out of Baylor, is expected to be Locker’s main target for years to come. Tennessee selected him with the 20^th overall pick.

With a young quarterback taking the reins for the first time, the Titans will expect growing pains and should be grateful to finish around the .500 mark by season’s end.

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Tennessee will head to Buffalo on Sunday looking to keep pace with the rest of the teams in the wild card hunt. Tennessee is seeking its first back to back wins in almost two months and will need to make a run in the last few weeks in order to have a shot at making the playoffs. The Bills on the other side will probably have to win out the rest of their games just to have a shot at making it.

Tennessee is in a position where it could maybe catch up to the first place Houston Texans with the Texans down to their third-string quarterback T.J. Yates, a rookie from North Carolina, and the recently signed Jake Delhomme. With the teams finishing out the season against each other a few wins and Tennessee could be playing for the division in that final game.

“We’re aware of where we are in the standings every week and what our situation is, and that’s why we have to realize how important this game is for us,” coach Mike Munchak said. “We’ve got to win if we’re going to have a chance to play more than 16 games.” The Bills suffered their fifth straight road loss and fourth loss on the road last Sunday when they fell 28-24 to the New York Jets.

“We have to win out, and we probably have to get some help — and that’s what I told the team,” coach Chan Gailey said. While the offense, which had been lacking in the previous three losses, bounced back against the Jets, too many penalties doomed the Bills in MetLife Stadium. They committed a season high 9 penalties and gave up 138 yards on just 23 carries to a running game that had been struggling.

The Bills are giving up 123.8 yards on the ground per game which is ranked 21^st in the league, and it won’t be easier for them this week as they face running back Chris Johnson who is coming off his best performance this season rushing for 190 yards. Another problem for the Bills could be if they let the Titans get to the red zone as they rank second to last in TD efficiency inside the 20 and the Titans hold the NFL’s highest mark scoring a TD over 70 percent of the time they get there.

With leading rusher Fred Jackson out for the year, and C.J. Spiller not filling the role effectively so far the Bills will have to rely on Ryan Fitzpatrick and the passing attack to put up points. That plays right into Tennessee’s strength as they have the 13^th ranked passing attack giving up only 229.1 yards per game.

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The Tampa Buccaneers (4-7) season ended in Nashville on Sunday after the Titans (6-5), behind a mammoth performance from running back Chris Johnson, had a fourth quarter comeback victory. The score was 23-17. Although running back LeGarrette Blount had 103 yards on 20 carries and Josh Freeman’s 199 yards and one touchdown pass on 18-33 passing were not enough to hold off the Titans in the game’s final minutes.

The game was a final stand for Tampa, who has completely fallen out of the NFC playoff race after its fifth straight loss following a 4-2 start. Bucs fans had a tough time swallowing this one, as they saw a 17-10 fourth quarter lead become a distant memory.

A 52-yard field goal from Titans’ kicker Rob Bironas cut the deficit to 17-13 at the beginning of the final period, but Tampa still appeared poised to end the game on the next drive with a touchdown. After starting at their own 20-yard line, Tampa’s penalties pushed them back into a 1st and 25 situation back near midfield. The offense was unable to make up the lost yardage, and was forced to punt.

The game was then put into the hands of the defense. With just 7:15 remaining they still had an excellent opportunity to preserve the lead and allow the offense to win the game. But Johnson, who ran for a season high 190 yards on 23 carries, put the Titans into excellent scoring position with a 34-yard run to the Tampa Bay 25 after back to back first down throws by Matthew Hasselbeck to open the drive, which began back at the Tennessee 20-yard line.

The Bucs were able to stop the Titans on 3rd and goal from the five after tackling Johnson at the 2-yard line, but needed one more stop, as Tennessee elected to go for it on the 4th down with only a few minutes remaining and trailing by four. Hasselbeck rolled right and threw back towards the middle of the end zone to receiver Damian Williams for the touchdown, giving the Titans a 20-17 lead.

Freeman, who has 2 game-winning drives this season, and a total of nine in his three seasons as the Bucs’ quarterback, aimed to lead his team on another, but was intercepted by linebacker Colin McCarthy at the Tampa Bay 47-yard line. Turnovers was the name of the game for both teams throughout the day due to the cold, rainy conditions.

Each side struggled to take care of the football and there was a total of eight fumbles and three interceptions. There was even a stretch of six plays in the 3rd quarter where the teams combined for three turnovers. “Looking back, we had our timeouts and we had plenty of time. It would have been fairly routine for us to drive down, but the turnover made things difficult.

That’s something that at that point just can’t happen,” said Freeman about the late interception. The Bucs’ defense could have easily lost all hope after Johnson’s second carry of that next drive went to the Tampa 21-yard line leading up to the two minute warning, but they still fought hard and allowed only a field goal with 1:44 remaining.

Freeman would have one more opportunity to win the game trailing 23-17. It only took three plays to move the ball from his own 20 to the Titans’ 34 and things certainly looked promising. However, the Bucs found themselves at the 4-yard line, and were unable to convert after Freeman fumbled on the quarterback sneak attempt, recovered, and was stopped at 26 yards.

The turnover  led to thoughts of the 2012 season for the Bucs faithful. Titans fans, however, kept their postseason hopes alive. “We knew that this was a do-or-die situation, a critical situation,” said Hasselbeck.

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The Tennessee Titans (4-4) battled hard, but ultimately lost a close game 24-17 to the visiting Cincinnati Bengals (6-2). Despite looking the stronger team early on at LP Field, the Titans could not maintain their first half momentum, and gave up 17 unanswered points in the second half as they fell to defeat.

The Bengals continued to suffer from the absence of injured linebacker Rey Maualuga, as well as tight end Jermaine Gresham, although defensive end Carlos Dunlap was available after being listed as doubtful. Although the Titans had injury problems of their own, especially in the secondary, they were more concerned with the poor form of running back Chris Johnson, whose future in Tennessee seems to become less and less certain with each poor performance the tailback turns in.

Tennessee took an early lead with a field goal in the first quarter, but the lead was not to last long, with quarterback Andy Dalton picking out tight end Colin Cochart for a one-yard touchdown, making the score 7-3 to the visitors. The Titans regained their lead quickly though, wide receiver Damian Williams making an excellent catch at the back of the endzone for an eight-yard touchdown.

With time running down in the second, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck orchestrated a drive down the field with a culmination of timeouts and the Titan’s no-huddle offense, which ultimately resulted in Hasselbeck passing for 16 yards to Lavelle Hawkins and the touchdown.

Cincinnati continued to look dangerous however, and cut the lead to just three points when Dalton threw his second touchdown pass of the night, this time to Jerome Simpson for 15 yards. Dalton then continued to lead the Bengals comeback, ending the visitors drive with a five-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Andre Caldwell, giving them a four point lead over the Titans.

A field goal from Mike Nugent with two minutes left to play was enough to secure the win for the Bengals, and Head Coach Marvin Lewis will be pleased with his side’s second half comeback in what was a challenging away game. Dalton impressed throughout the game, and was pivotal in leading his side’s comeback, passing for 217 yards, as well as three touchdowns.

Rookie wide receiver A.J. Green also continued to impress, making 83 yards on seven receptions, and distancing himself at the top of the rookie receptions table. Although the Titans will be disappointed with a loss at home, especially after they took a substantial lead early in the game, but the continuing good form of Hasselbeck will not leave Titan’s fans completely disheartened.

Tailback Johnson’s 64 yards from 14 carries, and 46 yards from four receptions may not be particularly sensational, they do represent an improvement on his recent form, and the quickest way for the Titans to return to winning ways would be for Johnson to find his groove again, which would in turn allow for Hasselbeck to be even more effective.

The Bengals now face a testing schedule for the next four weeks, which sees them meet the Steelers (twice), Ravens and Browns, in a series of games which could make or break their season.

The Titans face a slightly easier challenge, taking on the Panthers and Buccaneers in their next games, but will be eager to ensure they do not have any slip-ups as they seek to put pressure on the Houston Texans at the top of the AFC South.

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