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A 13-yard touchdown by Brandon Jones was the first of three unanswered Titans TDs in the second half.
It was a premature celebration, especially against the league's only unbeaten team.
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Behind, ahead. Home, away. Run, pass. Backups, starters. No matter the situation, the Tennessee Titans keep finding ways to win -- and staying undefeated.
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Kerry Collins threw three touchdown passes, Albert Haynesworth dominated defensively again and the Titans improved to 10-0 with a 24-14 victory over the Jaguars on Sunday.
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Tennessee overcame a 14-3 halftime deficit, got solid play from third-string cornerback Chris Carr and extended its franchise-record winning streak in the regular season to 13.
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"It's great," Haynesworth said. "People keep counting us out and we like proving the world wrong, I guess."
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The Titans swept the season series against AFC South rival Jacksonville for the third time in seven years and won their seventh consecutive regular-season road game. This one may have been more impressive than any of the others.
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After dropping third-down passes and committing costly penalties in the first half, the Titans regrouped at halftime and handed Del Rio the second-worst collapse of his six-year coaching career.
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"It's very frustrating," Jaguars safety Gerald Sensabaugh said. "We pretty much shut them out the whole first half, came in and felt like we had a lot of momentum going our way and then went back out and gave up a few big plays. That sums it up pretty much. That was horrible."
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The Jaguars (4-6) lost for the fourth time in six games, fell six games behind the Titans and probably ended any chance they had of returning to the postseason.
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"We wanted to knock Jacksonville out of contention and out of the playoffs, and we did that," Haynesworth said.
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Collins, Haynesworth and Carr deserve much of the credit.
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Collins directed consecutive touchdown drives to open the third quarter, turning an 11-point deficit into a three-point lead.
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He sealed the victory with a perfect 38-yard TD pass to Justin Gage with 3:57 remaining. Collins and Gage also hooked up for a 56-yard score in the third period -- the only third-down conversion for the Titans. They were 1-of-12 on third down.
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"That makes it even worse," said Jaguars cornerback Drayton Florence, who was beaten on the 56-yarder.
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Collins finished 13-of-23 for 230 yards. Gage caught four passes for 147 yards.
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Rookie Chris Johnson ran for 64 yards, not nearly the factor he was when these teams met in the season opener. Collins was the difference in the rematch.
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"It's tough for defenses to stop us," Gage said. "A lot of people say we can't do this. We can win and we like to prove them wrong."
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Collins found Brandon Jones on a slant route near the goal line to cap the first TD drive. Jones stepped into the end zone for a 13-yard score, flipped the ball to a referee and then dropped to his knees and put both hands behind his helmet -- making it look like he was getting arrested.
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Not quite. He did get flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, a 15-yard penalty assessed on the kickoff. No worries, though. Tennessee's defense stiffened again.
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The Titans, who sacked David Garrard seven times in the opener and held the Jaguars to a season-low 33 yards rushing, clamped down in the second half.
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Garrard had little time, Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew had little room and Jacksonville had little chance of staying out front.
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Haynesworth, who had two sacks in the opener, was in the backfield on just about every play and finished with seven tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. Carr was nearly as good off the bench, getting on the field because starter Nick Harper (ankle) was inactive and backup Eric King re-broke the arm he injured last year and missed most of the game.
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Garrard tried to pick on Carr, but it backfired. Carr knocked down three passes and had a late interception, a floater Garrard called "a gift there at the end."
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"He didn't play like a third corner," Garrard added. "We tried to (pick on him). Whenever you've got guys out, you have to do that because they would be starting if they were that good."
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Garrard finished 13-of-30 for 135 yards with the interception and the second-worst passer rating (43.1) in 39 career starts. He was sacked four times, three in the second half.
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"They were definitely turning their dials up a little bit and we didn't match it," Garrard said. "That's unfortunate because we had a perfect opportunity. We have to do a lot better than that, especially when the game's on the line."
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GAME NOTES:Jaguars LB Mike Peterson, inactive last week after getting sent home for insubordination, played mostly on special teams and in a backup role. ... Jacksonville set a franchise record with 10 punts. ... The Titans also played without defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch (groin) and receiver Justin McCareins (concussion).concussion
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Nov 16, 2008 at 06:29 AM











