Titans are No Fluke at 10-0

The Tennessee Titans are out to a surprising 10-0 start, the only unbeaten team left in the National Football League. It was around this time last year when talk arose, with the New England Patriots 10-0, about going undefeated. The only time a team has ever gone through a season undefeated was the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who posted record of 17-0. They won all 14 of their regular season games, followed by two playoff games and Super Bowl VII.

The Titans have wins over some of the top teams in the league like the Baltimore Ravens (6-4), and the 2006 Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts (6-4). On Sunday, the Titans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars for their 10th win of the season.

Is it too early to talk about going undefeated? Tennessee right guard Jake Scott thinks so. "We've got 10 wins," Scott said Monday. "That's a lot. To go undefeated we'd have to win nine more. We're just a little over halfway. You're not even in that ballpark yet."

As the Titans sat at home and watched the Patriots take on the Giants in Super Bowl XLII last year, they saw how no team will simply give up to a foe that enters the contest without a loss.

"It definitely gives you that realization no one's going to lay down for you in this league," Scott said. "You can show up at the Super Bowl 18-0, no one's going to lie down and let you win the game. You have to earn it."

The Titans are only the 11th team since 1970 to record their first 10 games as wins, and the third to do so in the past four seasons. Seven of the first 10 reached the Super Bowl while five of those seven won. Scott played for the Colts when they started 13-0 in 2005, so he knows how you can't get too excited. After losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs, he recalled how the team eased up a bit too much after clinching the AFC South and home-field advantage in the regular season.

"We let some mistakes we made in that game slide by. ... It came back and kind of bit us. That's something you kind of have to watch out for at the end of the season when you're playing Week 14, 15, 16 and 17. You've got to still make sure you're evaluating your own performance honestly and make sure you're still getting better," Scott said.

The Titans were off to a rough start Sunday in Jacksonville. They missed tackles, couldn't keep drives going, turned the ball over just short of the goal line and picked up seven penalties - all in the first half.

In the second half, the Titans were trailing 14-3, their biggest deficit of the season. Then, quarterback Kerry Collins started playing ball like he had been in previous games. He hit four passes in a row, capped with a touchdown, then the defense forced the Jaguars offense to go three and out. Collins then found Justin Gage three plays later for a 56-yard TD pass. It was Tennessee's longest pass play so far in the 2008 season.

Tennessee held Jacksonville to 84 yards in the second half, and Collins clinched the win with another perfect pitch and catch to Gage on a 38-yarder and a 24-14 win.

It was the Titans first game over an 11-day span. They host the New York Jets this Sunday, Nov. 23, followed by a Thanksgiving Day game Thursday, Nov. 27 in Detroit at the winless Lions.

The team is doing exceptional considering they are playing without defensive starters in end Kyle Vanden Bosch and cornerback Nick Harper. On Sunday, they lost replacement starting cornerback Eric King to a broken forearm.

Third-string cornerback Chris Carr picked off a pass while still returning kicks and punts. Head Coach Jeff Fisher praised Carr's effort and still managed to joke another injury at that spot would've sent him to assistant coaches Marcus Robertson and Chuck Cecil for help.

The Titans have six games left, three of which the opponent owns a losing record. But, they still must visit the red-hot Pittsburgh Steelers (7-3) on Dec. 21. The Jets (7-3) are led by Brett Favre and ready to play Sunday.

Fisher said there will be some discussion on "a variety of topics" when the Titans are back Wednesday to start preparing for the Jets.

"I can assure you the main topic of discussion will be the Jets because that's the approach we've taken all year," Fisher said.