Titans now 9-0 after win over Bears

Kerry Collins threw for two touchdowns in a victory over Chicago on Sunday. With the Bears committing to stopping the run, the Titans went to an air attack. Reuters

CHICAGO — At Soldier Field Sunday, the Tennessee Titans abandoned their infantry-style offense in favor of an air assault.

In doing so, quarterback Kerry Collins piloted the Titans right past the Chicago Bears’ plans to stop Tennessee’s ground game in a 21-14 victory.

While the Bears bottled up the Titans rushing attack, limiting them to just 20 yards on 27 carries, it was Collins who provided the needed remedy, completing 30 of 41 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns to keep the Titans perfect at 9-0.

That 20-yard rushing total came within a yard of matching the franchise low for rushing yards in a game, as LenDale White had just 14 yards on 10 attempts, and Chris Johnson fared even worse with just eight yards on 14 tries.

“I knew we were going to have to throw it to win,” offensive coordinator Mike Heimierdinger said. “I thought we would all week, but I thought we could mix the run in there. Eventually, it was just ridiculous to try to mix the run in there.

“We set a record against Kansas City for rushing [332 yards on Oct. 19], and we probably set a record for inefficiency rushing today.”

But while the Bears stacked the line of scrimmage to slow Tennessee’s rushing tandem, what they failed to account for was the veteran Collins’ ability to find open receivers in one-on-one matchups. He hit Bo Scaife with a 10-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to tie the game, and connected with former Bear Justin Gage from 12 yards out to give the Titans the lead for good with 11:34 to play in the third quarter.

Tennessee did tack on a fourth-quarter score with White punching it in from a yard out after Collins directed the Titans downfield once again.

When it was over, the Titans said they knew Chicago would force their hand and take away the running game. And it was a challenge they welcomed.

“I think that’s pretty much what we’re going to get every week from teams is eight or nine in the box,” said Scaife, who finished with 10 catches for 78 yards including the score. “We’ve got a great running attack, and they want to neutralize that and make us one-dimensional. But what teams don’t understand is we’ve got playmakers outside and playmakers at tight end and every one of those positions have got to step up.”

Scaife wasn’t the only Titans pass-catcher to contribute, as Brandon Jones caught eight passes for 82 yards, including converting several third-downs with his receptions.

“It just lets you know that other teams won’t be able to stick eight or nine in the box anymore,” Jones said. “We can go outside. It just gives us the confidence to keep doing it more. It gives ’Dinger the confidence and [Jeff] Fisher confidence to keep calling it.

“We knew they were going to put eight in the box. We’ve got two great running backs, and we’ve been having success all year running the ball. They’re a great defense at stuffing the run, and we just had to put the ball up outside.”

It was the passing game that also helped the Titans overcome plenty of key mistakes, including a 14-play, 75-yard march by the Bears on the opening drive, a fumble by fullback Ahmard Hall on fourth-and-goal at the 1 and eight penalties for 55 yards.

Coupled with those problems, the Titans were completed stifled in the run game, having minus-5 yards at halftime on the ground.

Through it all, the Titans banked on Collins and the passing game, which picked up 17 of Tennessee’s 19 first downs with passes completed to seven different receivers. And it was done on a chewed-up field that caused poor footing for players throughout the game.

“They were just penetrating the gaps and loading the line of scrimmage and said throw it,” Fisher said. “We expected all week to have to come out and throw it. The issue all week was going to be the footing with the receivers, and it was an issue. We were on the ground way too much and dropped too many balls, but obviously we made the plays we needed to make.”

Collins, who had perhaps his most effective game as a Titan, said teams have been loading the box in recent weeks, trying to stop Johnson and White. It began in earnest three weeks ago with Indianapolis and continued last week in Green Bay.

“We expected to get a lot of what we got today,” Collins said. “I think it’s really been a recurring theme that people are going to load the box up and really force us to throw the ball. We’ve been able to do it fairly effectively, and today we did it effectively enough to make plays and win the game.”

While Collins and the passing game picked up the offense, the defense found itself after a shaky first drive. After the score, the Titans' Chris Hope intercepted Rex Grossman. And after that, Tennessee forced the Bears to punt on eight straight possessions, allowing just one first down in that span.

Then, on Chicago’s next drive, Tennessee’s special teams turned that scoring attempt away when Jason Jones blocked Robbie Gould’s 48-yard field goal try.

The Bears did creep closer when, in a no-huddle offense, they moved 68 yards in seven plays with Rex Grossman scoring from a yard away.

But when the Titans needed a final stop, cornerback Cortland Finnegan broke up a fourth-down pass to Devin Hester to stop the Bears at the Titans’ 35-yard line with 2:29 to play.

From there, the Titans needed one more first down to ice the game, and got it with, what else, a pass in the flat to Scaife who rambled 10 yards for the first down that sealed the game and kept the Titans unblemished for another week.

When it was over, the Titans were pleased to have extended their regular-season winning streak to a franchise-best 12 games and to have found a different but necessary way to do so.

“We’re still a good running football team, but they committed to it, and we beat them with the passing game,” Fisher said.