One kicker held his nerve, his opposite number did not and the Tennessee Titans won their fourth consecutive game on Monday night. Rob Bironas kicked a 53-yard field goal with less than a minute remaining as the Titans beat the Houston Texans 20-17. The Texans (5-5) had a chance to send the game into overtime, but Kris Brown's 49-yard field goal attempt with one second remaining sailed to left of the posts.
It was Brown's second miss of the game and the second match in a row he has missed a chance to send Houston into overtime - and he took full responsibility for the blown opportunities. "The frustrating part for me is, we have 44 guys out there, busting their tails, and one guy out there not doing his job, which is me," Brown said. "That's the reason we lose the game. That's hard. I've got to figure out what the heck's going on, and I need to figure it out pretty quick."
Bironas's winning kick came nine minutes after he had missed from 49 yards. "I was just hoping for a second chance to come out there and hit one more," he said. The Titans (4-6), who began the season with four consecutive defeats, have not lost since Vince Young took over at quarterback. "This means a lot. The fans were giving me a hard time but I know they love me - it was a big win for the whole team," said Young, who is now 2-0 as a starter in his home town of Houston after running for the winning touchdown in overtime in his last start there, as a rookie in 2006.
"Bironas made a big kick, and the offensive line did a great job of giving me time." Young threw one touchdown and completed 12 of 22 passes for 116 yards. "He's a year further in the system," said the Titans coach Jeff Fisher. "He has had a chance to sit back and watch Kerry [veteran QB Kerry Collins]. The pass completions and those things aside, what he was able to do at the line of scrimmage with the play clock and the crowd noise - he did a very good job today."
Chris Johnson ran for 151 yards for Tennessee, but in the end it was Bironas's kick than proved decisive. The Titans started their match-winning drive at the six-yard line, but the Texans were then called for a 15-yard penalty for a tackle on Johnson. A 22-yard run by Johnson two plays later put the Titans on their 41 just before the two-minute warning. Young had a 12 yard run for a first down later in that drive but the Titans could not keep it going and went to Bironas for the winning field goal.
"I know they're disappointed," the Houston coach, Gary Kubiak, said of his players. "We're all disappointed. We worked very hard and expected a different outcome." * With agencies
