Young tosses TD as time expires, Titans rally for 5th straight win, 20-17

Young rallies Titans to 20-17 win over Cardinals

Steve Breaston walked over to Cardinals teammate Matt Leinart on the sideline early in the Tennessee Titans’ final drive and called it deja vu.

Vince Young’s opponents — college and pro — have seen this before.

Young outdueled Leinart again with yet another spectacular winning drive Sunday. He hit a leaping Kenny Britt for a 10-yard touchdown as time expired, and the Titans rallied to beat Arizona 20-17 for their fifth straight victory.

Young won his ninth straight start and improved to 23-11 in his career by driving the Titans 99 yards on 18 plays in the final 2:37. He converted three fourth downs on the drive, two on passes to Britt. He threw for a career-high 387 yards in beating Leinart in their first meeting as professionals and first since the BCS national championship in January 2006.

Titans fullback Ahmard Hall played with Young in that title game and told coaches on his sideline that his friend would deliver again.

“He just has a knack for the spotlight,” Hall said.

The Titans (5-6) have not lost since Young replaced Kerry Collins as the starter. They are the first team to win five in a row after starting 0-6.

Arizona (7-4) had its three-game winning streak end. Leinart made his first start since Oct. 7, 2007, as the Cardinals sat Kurt Warner with what coach Ken Whisenhunt called sensitivity in the quarterback’s eyes. Arizona has a key NFC matchup with Minnesota next week.

Leinart threw for 220 yards, LaRod Stephens-Howling returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown and Tim Hightower also ran for a TD for Arizona. But the Cardinals lost for the first time this season away from home with Warner watching from the sideline wearing sweats.

The winning drive almost overshadowed the record-setting performance by Titans running back Chris Johnson.

He matched the NFL mark held by Earl Campbell (1980) and Eric Dickerson (1984) by running for at least 125 yards in his sixth straight game. Johnson topped 125 yards Sunday with an 85-yard touchdown gallop late in the third quarter, and he turned in the most yards rushing in November, a mark previously held by Barry Sanders (1997).

Johnson finished with 18 carries for 154 yards, though he didn’t touch the ball on the final drive. He didn’t mind.

Breaston lost to Young in the Rose Bowl while at Michigan, a year before Young led the winning drive against Leinart and Southern California in that memorable BCS title game — also at the Rose Bowl.

Asked if this felt like that BCS game, Young said it did — a little.

“We’re in the NFL now. … As the Tennessee Titans, I feel we fought to the finish,” Young said.

At Houston, Peyton Manning threw for three touchdowns and the Colts rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to clinch the AFC South.

It was their 20th straight regular-season victory. Indianapolis (11-0) is one win shy of the New England Patriots’ NFL-record 21-game run from 2006-08. The Colts can tie the record if they beat Tennessee at home next weekend.

The Colts improved to 15-1 against Houston (5-6).

Manning threw two first-half interceptions, but had a pair of second-half TD passes.

In Baltimore, Pittsburgh third-string quarterback Dennis Dixon was picked off by rookie Paul Kruger, setting up a 29-yard field goal by Billy Cundiff with 6:42 left in overtime.

Dixon started because Ben Roethlisberger was sidelined with a concussion and backup Charlie Batch had a broken left wrist.

Dixon threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes, and even added a personal touch, running for a 24-yard touchdown to put Pittsburgh up 17-14 in the fourth quarter.

But in overtime, Dixon’s lone turnover provided the Ravens (6-5) a much-needed win and sent the Steelers (6-5) to their third straight defeat — their longest skid since a three-game run in 2006.

At San Diego, the Chargers (8-3) turned four turnovers into touchdowns, including a 40-yard fumble return for a score by safety Paul Oliver, and ran their winning streak to six games.

LaDainian Tomlinson scored two touchdowns and moved into 10th on the NFL’s career rushing list. Philip Rivers threw two touchdown passes to Antonio Gates.

The Chiefs (3-8) lost a week after stunning the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime.

Tomlinson passed Marcus Allen (12,243) on a 5-yard carry in the first quarter and Edgerrin James (12,246) on an 8-yard run in the second, finishing with 39 yards to reach 12,257 for his career. Up next is Marshall Faulk in ninth with 12,279 yards.

At Minneapolis, Brett Favre passed for a season-high 392 yards and three touchdowns, and the Vikings intercepted Jay Cutler twice.

Favre went 32 for 48 without a turnover and was 10 yards from his career best, throwing touchdowns to Visanthe Shiancoe, Chester Taylor and Percy Harvin, the unflappable rookie who had his best game yet.

The Vikings (10-1) outgained the Bears (4-7) by a whopping 537 yards to 169 and breezed to their fifth straight win despite two more fumbles and a pedestrian 85 yards on 25 carries by Adrian Peterson.

His short, late touchdown run put Minnesota over 32 points for the sixth time this season.

At San Francisco, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith threw short touchdown passes to Frank Gore and Vernon Davis in the kind of mistake-free day San Francisco coach Mike Singletary has sought for weeks.

Smith threw for 232 yards with no interceptions and no sacks in his best game since taking over as starter in late October. Joe Nedney kicked field goals of 46 and 27 yards for San Francisco (5-6), which snapped a three-game winning streak for the Jaguars (6-5).

At Cincinnati, newcomer Larry Johnson rushed for 107 yards in Cincinnati’s conservative approach, and the Bengals completed their first division sweep.

The Bengals (8-3) went 6-0 in the AFC North with a retooled, run-first offense and a stout defense that has carried them into first place. They rushed for 210 yards, with Johnson — signed less than two weeks ago as insurance — subbing for Cedric Benson, out for the second straight week with an injured hip.

The Browns (1-10) reached double-digit losses for the eighth time in their 11 years as an expansion team. Cincinnati now has the longest stretch of domination in the series’ history, winning nine of the past 11 games.

At Philadelphia, David Akers kicked a 32-yard field goal with 1:48 remaining. A week ago, Donovan McNabb led the Eagles (7-4) to a late touchdown in a 24-20 win at Chicago.

Akers made all four of his field goals, extending his streak to 16. Asante Samuel had two interceptions and McNabb threw for 260 yards and one TD.

Jason Campbell had 231 yards passing and two TDs for Washington, which fell short at the end for the second straight week. The injury-depleted Redskins (3-8) lost 7-6 at Dallas last weekend.

At Atlanta, Chris Redman threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Roddy White with 23 seconds remaining, and the Falcons pulled out a victory after losing offensive stars Matt Ryan and Michael Turner to injuries.

The Falcons (6-5) were in deep trouble after Jason Elam missed another field goal try, from 43 yards, and the Bucs (1-10) drove into Atlanta territory.

But Connor Barth just missed on a 51-yard try with 2:30 left, giving the Falcons one more chance. Redman, who took over after Ryan injured his right big toe on Atlanta’s first series, calmly directed a 59-yard drive.

On fourth-and-goal at the 5, Redman hit White on a slant while cornerback Derrick Roberson swiped at the ball.

At Orchard Park, N.Y., a 56-yard field goal by Rian Lindell and a 51-yard touchdown catch by Terrell Owens in the final minutes finished off the Bills’ first win for interim coach Perry Fewell.

Lindell’s career-longest field goal with 3:35 left put the Bills (4-7) ahead for the first time at 17-14. Just 72 seconds later, Ryan Fitzpatrick teamed up with Owens on their scoring play and Fred Jackson’s second TD of the game, a 7-yard run with 1:20 left, closed out the scoring as the Bills ended a three-game losing streak.

Ricky Williams had 115 yards rushing and a touchdown, but the Dolphins (5-6) couldn’t overcome Chad Henne’s three interceptions — on Miami’s final three possessions.

Porter had two of the Dolphins’ six sacks.

At East Rutherford, N.J., Darrelle Revis got the Jets’ defense in the end zone for the first time this season, returning one of New York’s four interceptions 67 yards for a touchdown.

Thomas Jones had a 3-yard touchdown run as the Jets (5-6) won at home for the first time since beating Tennessee in Week 3.

Carolina (4-7) had a chance late to make it a one-score game, but Dwayne Jarrett’s 28-yard touchdown catch was wiped off the scoreboard when he was called for offensive pass interference. Kerry Rhodes, demoted in favor of Eric Smith, picked off Jake Delhomme on the next play for his second interception of the game.

At St. Louis, Justin Forsett set career highs with 130 yards and two touchdowns and the go-ahead score came on the Seahawks’ third defensive touchdown of the season.

Seattle (4-7) had been 0-5 on the road but ended the drought against the Rams (1-10), who have lost 11 in a row at home.

Olindo Mare added field goals of 29 and 38 yards, tying the franchise record of 16 straight shared by Josh Brown, now with the Rams. The Seahawks intercepted Kyle Boller twice and sacked him four times.

The announced attendance of 47,475 was the Rams’ worst in 15 seasons in St. Louis.

Steven Jackson had 89 yards rushing on 23 carries and a late score.