TITANS STOMP BRONCOS, 30-3

Nashville, TN - The Titans spotted the Denver Broncos a three-point lead, but
scored the next 30 and won handily. Running back Michael Bush was the game
MVP for the Titans, piling up 110 yards on just 11 carries, including a
70-yard touchdown run in the third quarter for the Titans final points. But
Marc Bulger was equally effective, if not more so, completing 14 of 21 for
180 yards and two touchdowns. Both of Bulger's TD passes came in the second
quarter, when the Titans blew open the close contest.  

A rebuilding Denver team rode into Nashville as an 11-point dog to face the
hometown Titans, on a cool night, playing on a rain-soaked sloppy field. The
Broncos got on the board first, on a Mason Crosby FG from 44 yards out.
Unfortunately for Denver coach Hank Sienzant's team, that would be the only
scoring Denver's offense would provide in the contest. Tennessee knotted the
score at 3 on a 25-yd Jay Feely FG late in the first quarter to culminate a
61-yard, 11-play drive.  

The 2nd quarter saw the Titans pull out to a comfortable lead, as they posted
20 points in the frame. Marc Bulger's two TD passes, one each to TE Greg
Olsen (4-39-1) and WR Bernard Berrian (2-25-1), along with two more Feely FGs
(26, 23) sent the two teams into the break with the score 23-3 in favor of
the Titans.  

The game MVP, RB Michael Bush (11-110-1), ripped off a 70-yd TD run in the
3rd quarter while Tennessee was playing ball control to finish off the
scoring at 30-3. The Tennessee defense just created too many breaks in this
one for Denver to overcome, as Denver turned the ball over a total of 6 times
in the contest and was held to 196 yards of total offense. Denver QB Daunte
Culpepper, in his first action coming back from an injury that kept him out
of action since week one, just did not play well enough to give Sienzant's
team an opportunity to compete in this one. He completed just nine of 29 for
129 yards, and finished with 4 interceptions on the day. Rushed and harried
all day, he looked out of sync with his receivers, and was also sacked 4
times. For Denver, RB Ricky Williams (5-51) and WR Nate Washington (4-77) did
have nice games, but it wasn't enough to pick up the slack for the
ineffective Culpepper.  

Earning its ninth win on the season, Tennessee is now guaranteed its first
winning season under the Ewing regime. "It has been a long road, rebuilding,
coming from a one-win team just a few years ago, to now actually being able
to make a run at the playoffs," said GM/Coach Ashton Ewing after the game.
"Our desire was to be a playoff-calibur team when we came in and gutted it.
Now we need to see what we can do with the opportunity. A division title is
the goal, but we will go one week at a time until that is decided."  

Next week, Denver (1-12) will host division rival Cleveland (6-6). Tennessee
(9-4) travels to Minneapolis to take on the division rival Vikings (4-8).