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Game 12 - Tennessee 33, Cleveland 21
CLEVELAND (Mon Nov 29 1:30:04 1999) -- Eddie George rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns and Derrick Mason returned a punt 65 yards for a score to lead the Tennessee Titans to a 33-21 win over the Cleveland Browns.
The Titans (9-2) extended their winning streak against AFC Central Division opponents to 13 games and remained one game behind the Jacksonville Jaguars. Tennessee won its last six division games last season and its first seven this year.
"We wanted to keep the streak alive in the AFC Central and we did," said Titans quarterback Steve McNair.
The Titans are off to the best start in franchise history since the-then Houston Oilers were 9-2 in 1991. Tennessee posted 8-8 records in each of its previous three seasons.
"We've won the ones we're supposed to win," said Titans coach Jeff Fisher. "That's what we've been doing all year."
George, who has 607 rushing yards in his last six games, scored on a 14-yard run in the first quarter and added a five-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The Browns (2-10) slipped to 0-6 at home this season.
Rookie Tim Couch scored on a four-yard run and hit running back Terry Kirby with a 78-yard touchdown in the second quarter to give Cleveland a 14-7 lead. But Al Del Greco kicked a pair of field goals in the final 3:32 of the half to pull the Titans within 14-13.
Tennessee took the lead for good when McNair scored on a one-yard run 5:02 into the third quarter.
McNair completed 18-of-36 passes for 179 yards and rushed for 45 yards on seven carries.
Mason broke off his punt return with 1:37 left in the third quarter to open a 26-14 lead for Tennessee.
"Derrick Mason's punt return really got us out of the hole and got us going," Fisher said. "Derrick's been close. We've been close all year. It was a great play for us."
"I think that got us going," Mason said. "Something like that should ignite the team and it did. I found a hole and took it."
Tennessee's Bruce Matthews, a 17th-year veteran, matched Jackie Slater's record for offensive linemen by playing in his 259th game. Matthews has the longest active streak with 191 straight starts.
"I'll be glad when all the attention is over," Matthews said. "It was never my intention to set the record or have it talked about. I'm proud of it. I'm blessed more than anything."
Tennessee started the game with a 10-play, 67-yard drive which resulted in George's 14-yard scoring run.
The Browns tied the game on Couch's touchdown run 3:08 into the second quarter, capping a 15-play, 86-yard drive. Couch hit fellow rookie Kevin Johnson with two passes for 39 yards in the drive.
Kirby turned a short pass over the middle into a 78-yard touchdown 2:26 later to give Cleveland the lead.
Couch was 19-of-35 for 261 yards and two touchdowns. Johnson finished with five catches for 84 yards.
"I'm starting too see things better and make better decisions," Couch said. "I think by this point in the season you start to feel like a seasoned veteran. You just have to keep improving."
Del Greco kicked a 27-yard field goal with 3:32 left in the seconf quarter to cap an 11-play, 60-yard drive. McNair connected with tight end Jackie Harris on a 27-yard play to key the drive.
Del Greco added a 31-yarder with five seconds left in the half after McNair hit Mason with a 20-yard pass on a 4th-and-14 play to the Cleveland 12.
Tennessee kept the momentum in the second half when Johnson fumbled a punt return after being hit by Dainon Sidney and Greg Favors recovered for the Titans at the Cleveland 21.
"I think the difference is when they fumbled the ball on the punt," George said. "We had to capitalize on that to take the life out of them."
McNair hit Joey Kent with an 11-yard pass and connected with Harris on a seven yard play to the Cleveland 3. Two plays later, McNair scored on a one-yard run 5:02 into the third quarter. He rolled to his right, faked Browns linebacker Jamir Miller to the turf, and waltzed into the end zone.
"He's a really strong guy and he's fast as well," Miller said. "What I was gulty of was misjudging that. He is a strong enough guy that even when he stops he can manage to shed you off. Thumbs up to him. He's a real good quarterback."
Along with scoring, Mason set up Tennessee's final scoring drive with a 16-yard punt return to the Cleveland 46. George then carried six times for 35 yards and capped the drive with a five-yard TD.
"I thought our turnovers, the fumble and the punt return that they took in for scores hurt us a great deal," said Browns coach Chris Palmer. "Those two plays were key in the game. I thought everything else was pretty even."
NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTALSCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: TEN - TD, EDDIE GEORGE 14 YD RUN (AL
DEL GRECO KICK),
4:42. Drive: 10 plays, 67 yards in 4:42. Key
plays: McNair 7-yard pass to Mason on 3rd-and-5
to Tennessee 45; NcNair 12-yard pass to Dyson
on 3rd-and-8 to Cleveland 41; George 16-yard
run to Cleveland 20. TENNESSEE 7-0
2ND QUARTER: CLE - TD, TIM COUCH 4 YD RUN (PHIL DAWSON KICK), 3:08.
Drive: 15 plays, 86 yards in 8:47. Key plays:
Couch 14-yard pass to Chiaverini on 3rd-and-10
to Cleveland 28; Couch 13-yard pass to Johnson
on 3rd-and-11 to Tennessee 48; Couch 18-yard
pass to Chiaverini to Tennessee 31; Couch
26-yard pass to Johnson to Tennessee 4.
TENNESSEE 7, CLEVELAND 7
CLE - TD, TERRY KIRBY 78 YD PASS FROM TIM COUCH (PHIL
DAWSON KICK), 5:34. Drive: 2 plays, 80 yards in
0:47. CLEVELAND 14-7
TEN - FG, AL DEL GRECO 27 YD, 11:28. Drive: 11 plays, 60
yards in 5:54. Key plays: McNair 9-yard pass to
Wycheck on 3rd-and-8 to Tennessee 42; McNair
27-yard pass to Harris to Cleveland 31; McNair
12-yard run to Cleveland 18. CLEVELAND 14-10
TEN - FG, AL DEL GRECO 31 YD, 14:55. Drive: 10 plays, 44
yards in 1:41. Key plays: McNair 15-yard pass
to Dyson to Cleveland 41; McNair 13-yard pass
to Dyson to Cleveland 28; McNair 20-yard pass
to Mason on 4th-and-14 to Cleveland 12.
CLEVELAND 14-13
3RD QUARTER: TEN - TD, STEVE MCNAIR 1 YD RUN (AL DEL GRECO KICK),
5:02. Drive: 4 plays, 21 yards in 1:56. Key
plays: Favors recovery of Johnson fumble at
Cleveland 21; McNair 11-yard pass to Kent to
Cleveland 10. TENNESSEE 20-14
TEN - TD, DERRICK MASON 65 YD PUNT RETURN (TWO-POINT
CONVERSION FAILED), 13:23. TENNESSEE 26-14
4TH QUARTER: TEN - TD, EDDIE GEORGE 5 YD RUN (AL DEL GRECO KICK),
11:31. Drive: 8 plays, 46 yards in 4:10. Key
plays: Mason 16-yard punt return to Cleveland
46; George 11-yard run to Cleveland 35; McNair
11-yard run on 4th-and-6 to Cleveland 20;
George 6 carries for 35 yards. TENNESSEE 33-14
CLE - TD, DARRIN CHIAVERINI 6 YD PASS FROM TIM COUCH
(PHIL DAWSON KICK), 14:45. Drive: 14 plays, 65
yards in 3:14. Key plays: Kirby 10-yard run on
4th-and-1 to Tennessee 46; Couch 10-yard pass
to Campbell to Tennessee 36; Couch 15-yard pass
to Campbell on 4th-and-12 to Tennessee 11.
TENNESSEE 33-21
TEAM STATISTICS
TEN CLE
-------- --------
FIRST DOWNS 22 18
Rushing 10 5
Passing 11 12
Penalty 1 1
3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY 4-13 5-15
4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY 2-2 2-3
TOTAL NET YARDS 337 308
Total plays 69 66
Average gain 4.9 4.7
NET YARDS RUSHING 158 81
Rushes 33 24
Average per rush 4.8 3.4
NET YARDS PASSING 179 227
Completed-attempted 18-36 19-35
Yards per pass 5.0 5.4
Sacked-yards lost 0-0 7-34
Had intercepted 0 0
PUNTS-AVERAGE 4-47.8 6-38.7
RETURN YARDAGE 163 121
Punts-returns 5-98 2-9
Kickoffs-returns 3-65 7-112
Interceptions-returns 0-0 0-0
PENALTIES-YARDS 4-18 5-30
FUMBLES-LOST 1-1 5-2
TIME OF POSSESSION 32:36 27:24
PLAYER STATISTICS
Missed field goals: Tennessee (Al Del Greco 37).
Tennessee rushing: Eddie George 26-113, Steve Mcnair 7-45.
Cleveland rushing: Karim Abdul-jabbar 15-35, Tim Couch
5-29, Terry
Kirby 4-17.
Tennessee passing: Steve Mcnair 18-36 for 179 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD.
Cleveland passing: Tim Couch 19-35 for 261 yards, 0 INT, 2 TD.
Tennessee receiving: Kevin Dyson 4-42, Jackie Harris
3-44, Derrick
Mason 3-28, Frank Wycheck 3-27, Eddie George 3-21, Joey Kent 2-17.
Cleveland receiving: Kevin Johnson 5-84, Darrin Chiaverini
5-57,
Terry Kirby 4-87, Mark Campbell 2-25, Marc Edwards 1-4, Irv Smith
1-3, Karim Abdul-jabbar 1-1.
Tennessee tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial): Samari
Rolle 5-0-1,
Barron Wortham 4-1-0, Jason Fisk 4-0-1, Blaine Bishop 4-0-1, Kenny
Holmes 3-1-1, Josh Evans 3-1-1, Jevon Kearse 3-0-1, Eddie Robinson
2-1-0, Joe Bowden 2-1-0, Denard Walker 2-0-0, Steve Jackson 2-0-0,
Dainon Sidney 2-0-0, Mike Jones 2-0-0, Doug Colman 1-0-0, Joe Salavea
1-0-0, Marcus Robertson 1-0-0, John Thornton 1-0-0, Perry Phenix
1-0-0, Team 0-0-1.
Cleveland tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial): Wali
Rainer 5-2-0,
Marquez Pope 5-0-0, Jamir Miller 4-1-0, Derrick L Alexander 4-1-0,
Darius Holland 3-1-0, Raymond Jackson 3-0-0, John Thierry 3-0-0,
Marquis Smith 2-1-0, Corey Fuller 2-1-0, Mike Thompson 2-1-0, Rahim
Abdullah 2-0-0, Ryan Mcneil 2-0-0, Roy Barker 1-0-0, Antonio Langham
1-0-0, Daylon Mccutcheon 1-0-0, Marlon Forbes 1-0-0.
Interceptions: None.
Fumbles lost: Tennessee (Eddie George); Cleveland (Tim
Couch, Kevin
Johnson).
Opponent's fumbles recovered: Tennessee (Josh Evans,
Greg Favors);
Cleveland (Mike Thompson).
Officials: Referee-Bernie Kukar, Umpire-Carl Paganelli,
Head
linesman-Tom Johnson, Line judge-Jeff Bergman, Field judge-Lloyd
Mcpeters, Side judge-Dave Wyant, Back judge-Richard Reels.
A: 72,008; T: 3:15.
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