Record rushing day sparks Titans past Chiefs

KANSAS CITY — Bring on the Colts.

The Tennessee Titans dismissed any notions of overlooking lowly Kansas City with a 34-10 thrashing of the Chiefs in a record-setting 332-yard rushing day Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.

The victory pushes the Titans to 6-0 heading into next Monday night’s AFC South showdown with rival Indianapolis at LP Field.

“That’s one of those games we circled when the schedule came out,” tight end Bo Scaife acknowledged of the Monday night contest. “But to get to 7-0, you’ve got to be 6-0 first. That’s kind of the approach we’re taking.”

The approach the Titans took Sunday was a ground assault that plodded away for three quarters, then broke through with long touchdown runs from LenDale White and Chris Johnson late to put the game completely away and shatter a team rushing record that had stood since 1977. Coincidentally, that game 31 years ago also came against Kansas City.

Other marks and milestones fell along the way Sunday, as Johnson finished with 168 yards rushing, including a 66-yard touchdown in which he played bongo drums behind the end zone afterwards, drawing a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Johnson’s running mate, LenDale White, whose playing time had dwindled in the previous two games, added 149 yards rushing and became the first Titan to rush for three touchdowns in a game since Eddie George in 2000 against Cleveland. It was an unexpected 80-yard jaunt to the end zone with three Chiefs defenders chasing him that had the Titans laughing all the way to the end zone after he broke free.

“I took a page out of Randy Moss’ book and I looked up at the Jumbotron to make sure nobody was coming,” White said of breaking into the clear. “And once I saw them gaining, I had to cut to the side to make sure I got into the end zone. Somebody threw beer in my face, but it tasted good.”

Titans coach Jeff Fisher joked about White, generously listed at 235 pounds, while giving credit to his running backs.

“Your run game is a development of the way your team plays,” Fisher said. “The defense is getting stops, and we could do those kinds of things. … The backs got a lot of extra yards on their own, after contact. Chris is just a step away from going the distance. No one thought LenDale was a step away from going the distance. He must have had a salad for dinner last night.”

At 6-0, the salad portion of the Titans season might be at an end, and the main course may be arriving beginning with the primetime game Monday night at home with the Colts. At 3-3, the Titans definitely could take the upper hand over the five-time reigning AFC South champions with a victory.

“We’re definitely excited because it’s the Colts,” return man Chris Carr said. “I don’t think it matters what our record is. People still hold the Colts up there as an elite football team and if we can beat them, people will start viewing us a little more seriously. So it doesn’t matter what the Colts record is, with Peyton Manning there, people will still feel like, ‘Hey, this is a better football team than the Titans.’ So if we go out there Monday night and beat them on our home field and improve to 7-0, we can send a statement to a lot of people in the NFL that we are one of those elite teams.”

The Titans looked the part on Sunday, taking care of business against a 1-5 Chiefs team that deactivated Larry Johnson for breaking team rules, then lost starting quarterback Brodie Croyle to a season-ending knee injury in the second quarter.

Tennessee scored on its first two possessions to push the Chiefs into a hole, getting Rob Bironas’ 49-yard field goal, and adding a 6-yard touchdown run from White to quickly go up 10-0.

The running game made life easier for quarterback Kerry Collins, who was playing without starting receivers Justin Gage and Justin McCareins. In fact, the Titans opened in a jumbo set with only one receiver with two tight ends and a fullback. But it didn’t matter with the run game doing the heavy lifting with a nice assist from a defense that limited the Chiefs to just 58 yards on the ground and knocked both Croyle and second-string quarterback Damon Huard from the game with injuries.

It was the type of solid all-around performance the Titans had hoped for coming off a bye week and with an important division game in primetime on the horizon.

“That’s the first thing Coach [Jim] Schwartz was telling us when we got into the meeting room on Tuesday was, ‘Don’t look ahead. Don’t look ahead. Don’t take these guys for granted. Come back in here and take it one game at a time,’” defensive end Jevon Kearse said.

The one game at a time cliché has worked thus far with the next game being one that has been looming for quite sometime.

“Coming in 6-0, next week is going to be the main event right there,” rookie defensive tackle Jason Jones said.