JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Ticker) -- The Tennessee Titans
jump-started their season against the Jacksonville Jaguars two
months ago and never looked back.
Eddie George had a pair of short touchdown runs and
linebacker Peter Sirmon returned an interception 32 yards for
a score as the Titans clinched the AFC South division title
with an easy 28-10 victory over the Jaguars.
The Titans (10-5) won for the ninth time in 10 games and
sealed the division when the Indianapolis Colts (9-6) lost to
the New York Giants on Sunday.
"We came down here with a great deal of respect for the
Jaguars and obviously we controlled this game pretty much from
the outset," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "We're in (the
playoffs) now and it's a great step. It's what we expected to
do at the beginning of the season, and obviously we've still
got a lot of work ahead of us."
The playoffs appeared to be a remote possibility when the
Titans lost four of their first five games. But a 23-14 home
win over Jacksonville on October 13 started the Titans'
current string of success that has them on the verge of their
second division title in three years.
"I'll go back to the 1-4 start. We didn't change anything,"
Fisher said. "The hardest thing for me once we got going and
started to win some games (was that) people were asking, 'What
have you done differently?' I didn't do anything
differently."
George carried 21 times for 89 yards and scored on runs of
four and one yards in the first half as the Titans built a
14-3 halftime lead.
Any chance of a comeback by Jacksonville (6-9) ended when
Sirmon picked off a pass from Mark Brunell and went up the
sideline for his first career touchdown with 2:08 left in the
third quarter, increasing the lead to 21-3.
"Bad throw. Bad decision," Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin said.
"It really hurt us."
Steve McNair capped the scoring with a five-yard TD pass to
Derrick Mason with 11:26 left. McNair completed 13-of-21
passes for 115 yards and carried eight times for 58 yards.
"We wanted to make a statement (last) offseason," McNair
said. "We wanted to improve in the passing game and we did.
The running game is now at the point where we can control the
ball once we get up."
Tennessee, which beat defending Super Bowl champion New
England on Monday, won its fourth straight game and can secure
at least a first-round playoff bye if it wins next week at
Houston.
"It was a blessing in disguise," George said of the slow
start. "We could have gone either way but we believed in each
other."
Jacksonville (6-9), by contrast, assured itself of a third
straight losing season after advancing to the AFC Championship
Game in 1999, putting the future of Coughlin in jeopardy.
"It's frustrating to face a team which obviously is playing
its best football of the year and come in here in this
division and not be able to compete against them. That's
frustrating," Coughlin said. "We prepare with nothing in mind
other than winning."
The normally disciplined Jaguars were penalized eight times
for 51 yards.
The Titans opened the second with a 12-play, 66-yard drive
that ended with a four-yard touchdown run around left end by
George.
The Jaguars cut the lead to 7-3 on a 24-yard field goal by
Danny Boyd early in the second quarter, but the Titans struck
back quickly thanks to the running ability of McNair.
McNair scrambled for 14 and 26 yards on consecutive plays,
leading to a one-yard TD run by George that made it 14-3.
Mason had six catches for 56 yards and has caught 30 passes
for 335 yards and two scores in December.
Brunell left the game in the third quarter with a hamstring
injury. Before departing, he completed 12-of-21 passes for 114
yards.
"We had high hopes coming in but we didn't have the day we
needed to have to win," Brunell said. "We always fight until
the end, so I don't think there is any quit in this locker
room."
Rookie David Garrard threw a four-yard TD pass to Jimmy
Smith with eight seconds left.
Fred Taylor of the Jaguars saw limited playing time due to
an ankle injury suffered in the first half and carried three
times for 17 yards.
The Titans have won seven of the last nine meetings with
Jacksonville.