Maurice Jones-Who? Chris Johnson and the Tennessee Titans run away with first win of the season

(Photo By: Jonathan Mohan/2009)

The Tennessee Titans started their November off on a winning note as they defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars in convincing fashion 30-13 to finally record their first victory of the season.

Titans fans released their collective sigh of relief on Sunday as they watched their team finally playing football for the first time since their Week Two loss to the Houston Texans.

Behind Chris Johnson's franchise record 228 yards, Vince Young's 114.1 quarterback rating and two key defensive interceptions, the Titans finally looked and played the part of a former 13-3 team.

As the Titans proceeded to rush the ball 37 times, taking the pressure off of Vince to win the game, Titans fans were reminded of last seasons formula for success... running the ball down the opposing teams esophagus.

On a day where the talk of Young replacing Collins as the starter dominated the city chatter and media attention, Johnson saw this as an opportunity to seize the limelight and the NFL rushing lead. His 824 yards are 40 more than his idol and last years rushing champion Adrian Peterson, while backs by the names of Thomas Jones, Cedric Benson and Steven Jackson all are looking up at the second year speedster out of East Carolina.

Johnson finished the day with a Tennessee Titans franchise best 228 yards and two scores on 24 carries while averaging 9.2 yards each time he touched the ball. In route to his rushing clinic, he also found the time to add two receptions for 11 yards. After his historic day against the Texans in Week Two, Johnson now has made NFL history again by becoming the first player to have four touchdowns of 50+ yards in a season.

When asked about the record he now holds considering the organizations past players such as Earl Campbell and Eddie George, Johnson had this to say.

"It feels real good to look at some of the guys who have played before me, then come in and break a record. But records are made to be broken. I’m just very proud of this victory and Vince Young coming in here and helping us get to this win."

In his first start since last season’s opener against Jacksonville, Young turned in a respectable performance silencing his critics for at least another week. He managed the game well, using his speed and footwork when necessary completing 15 of 18 passes for 125 yards and a touchdown without an interception. Young added another 30 yards on the ground, finishing the game with a 114.1 QB rating in route to winning his fifth consecutive contest and sixth in seven games, bringing his career record to 19-11 as a starter.

Vintage Vince

Although Vince managed the game for the most part, there were a few vintage VY moments that reminded Titans fans of his magical rookie season where he led a 0-4 winless team to an 8-8 record, just missing the playoffs by the slimmest margin. The most memorable play of the day came on a key third down conversion where Young spun away from what seemed an inevitable sack to rifle a bullet to Titans rookie Kenny Britt, ultimately keeping the Tennessee drive alive. When asked about the play, Young had this to say.

"On that third down, I just had to make a play and that is what we needed to do to pick up our third down. Our offensive line gave me some time to move around a little bit and Kenny Britt did a great job of catching the ball and getting that first down for us."

Young found seven separate Titans receivers on Sunday while Nate Washington pulled in the only receiving touchdown of the game bringing his total to four on the year. Justin Gage led all receivers with 41 yards while Bo Scaife hauled in four catches.

Although most fans may consider Collins to be the Titans best option to win at QB, it looks like Young is back for good. The question is what will Tennessee do with VY in the off-season? With his contract set to count over 14 million against the cap, there is no way Young will be backing up anybody on the Titans roster next season.

New Faces

As the Titans kicking game woes continued to plague the team this season, Tennessee punter Brett Kern gave fans a sigh of relief this week. Settling in nicely as the new Titans punter, Kern averaged 43.3 per punt while landing three of his four inside the 20-yard line. When asked about Kerns performance Titans Head Coach Jeff Fisher had this to say.

"He did a tremendous job today. To step in, in the middle part of the week like he did and leave his wife and new baby at home in 27 inches of snow in Denver to come in and punt like that was pretty impressive."

Next Up: Nov 8th @ 49ers 3:15 PM, Nov 15th Bills 12:00 PM, Nov 23rd @ Texans 7:30 PM (MNF)