With their season on the line, the Titans finally snapped a three-game losing streak. That should have been expected, as Albert Haynesworth was back in the lineup.As has become obvious with every game he missed, Haynesworth is the cornerstone for this Titans defense. Without him, the defensive line is ordinary; with him they bring ferocious pressure. Without him, offensive linemen carve out mammoth holes. When he's around, running backs are lucky to grind out three-yard gains.
So now that Haynesworth is back, the Titans are once again pretty interesting. They knocked Matt Schaub out of the game for the second time in two meetings, but this time they didn't let Sage Rosenfels turn into Joe Montana in the fourth quarter.
They also got a more refined game from Vince Young. While he did throw his 14th interception (more than he threw last year), he also connected for two touchdowns and 248 yards passing. With the Titans running game slowly falling apart, Young has had to do more and more in recent weeks. He's starting to respond to the challenge. He's thrown for more than 240 yards in each of the past four games after not topping 200 in any of his first seven starts this year.
It's hard to see how the Titans will compete with the Colts, Patriots or even Jaguars come playoff time--the rushing attack is not strong enough to make up for the team's problems in the passing game, but Sunday's win does give the Titans a chance at earning that playoff spot, something that would have been in deep trouble if the Texans had pulled off the upset.
