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FOXBORO, Massachusetts (Ticker) --
Steve McNair
nearly did in the
New England Patriots
, but in the end, he did in his own team.
Although McNair ran for two touchdowns and sparked the
Tennessee Titans
' offense all day, his interception late in the fourth quarter doomed the Titans to a 38-30 loss.
McNair threw for 391 yards, just seven short of a career high, on 23-of-45 passing. He did not throw a touchdown, but provided almost all of Tennessee's offensive energy in a game in which
Eddie George
carried 15 times for just 35 yards.
"Their running game got going and ours didn't," George said. "We need to forget this one as soon as possible and move on."
With 4:40 left in the fourth quarter, McNair plunged into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown on 4th-and-goal. His two-point pass to rookie
Tyrone Calico
gave the Titans a 27-24 lead.
But rookie
Bethel Johnson
returned the ensuing kickoff 71 yards to the Tennessee 30, setting up a 15-yard touchdown run by
Mike Cloud
. It was the second touchdown of the day for Cloud, who was making his season debut after serving a four-game suspension for testing positive for steroids.
"Mike came in there and had a couple of big runs for us," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "He showed some quickness and made a couple of nice cuts."
Cloud ran seven times for a career-high 73 yards. His pair of touchdowns matched his total for all of last season, when he was
Priest Holmes
' backup with the
Kansas City Chiefs
.
"It was definitely a big game for me," Cloud said. "We did a great job collectively as an offense. Our offensive line just controlled the line of scrimmage and created big holes for Antowain (Smith) and myself."
Down by four points, the Titans (3-2) were driving to try to regain the lead when McNair threw an interception that cornerback
Ty Law
returned 65 yards to make it 38-27.
"We stuck together," Law said. "Our backs were against the wall and we played tough football together."
The Titans moved back down the field and
Gary Anderson
kicked a 41-yard field goal with 36 seconds left, but the Patriots (3-2) recovered Tennessee's onside kick to clinch the victory.
"This is a frustrating loss for us," McNair said. "We had an opportunity to win this ballgame and we didn't. That happens."
Tennessee led 13-7 at halftime, but allowed 31 points in the second half, including 14 in the third quarter as New England had two touchdown drives that lasted 21 plays and consumed over 10 minutes of clock.
"We didn't tackle," Titans linebacker
Keith Bulluck
said. "They didn't do anything we weren't expecting. We just didn't make our plays on defense. There are no pointing fingers. I play on defense and we need to get our (act) together."
New England quarterback
Tom Brady
was 17-of-31 passing for 219 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. Brady has not been intercepted in the Patriots' three wins, while he has thrown seven picks in their two losses.
Brady's best pass of the day was his touchdown toss in the first quarter, as he found
Troy Brown
for a 58-yard strike that put New England up 7-6. Brown streaked down the left side of the field, easily beating safety
Lance Schulters
off the line.
Another pass from Brady set up a one-yard touchdown run by Smith. On 3rd-and-18 from the Titans 19, Brady hit
Deion Branch
just shy of the end zone.
"They were blitzing and it was an all-out blitz," Brady said. "I looked at Deion and we had a good route called. Deion made the play and shook the guy and it went for a huge first down."
Patriots kicker
Adam Vinatieri
missed a 34-yard field goal in the first quarter, snapping a streak of 33 straight he had made from within 40 yards.
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