Titans 20, Chargers 17
NASHVILLE -- Justin Hunter made up for a big drop at just the right time.
Hunter's 34-yard touchdown catch over Crezdon Butler with 15 seconds left Sunday gave Tennessee a dramatic 20-17 win over San Diego, snapping the Chargers' nine-game, 20-year winning streak over the Titans.
Hunter, who had dropped a potential 44-yard scoring strike from Jake Locker midway through the second quarter, saved his first catch for the play that pushed Tennessee to 2-1. He outfought Butler for the ball, making a leaping grab in the right-front corner of the end zone.
The play capped a 94-yard drive on which the Titans took over possession with 2:05 left and no timeouts remaining. Locker threw for every yard on the drive, finishing the game 23-for-37 for 299 yards.
San Diego (1-2) hadn't lost to the Titans' franchise since Sept. 27, 1992, when it was blanked 27-0 in the Astrodome -- five years before the team left Houston for Tennessee.
San Diego took advantage of a short field to score on its first possession. The Chargers took over at the Tennessee 49 and needed just six plays to score as Philip Rivers flipped a 7-yard scoring strike to Antonio Gates with 9:34 left in the first quarter.
Rob Bironas' 20-yard field goal with 13 minutes remaining in the first half got the Titans on the board, but Nick Novak responded with a 44-yard field goal with 4:47 left to make it 10-3. That was set up when Tennessee punter Brett Kern dropped a perfect snap and was tackled at his 30.
It was the biggest in a half full of errors for the Titans. They were flagged 10 times for 110 yards and also dropped a handful of passes, including Hunter's drop on a perfectly-thrown bomb down the middle of the field.
But Tennessee finished the half strong. Locker threw for 79 yards on the game-tying drive, capping it with a 7-yard scoring run with 1:08 left, and Bernard Pollard blocked Novak's 38-yard field goal try on the half's last play. That sent the teams into the locker room even at 10.
Ronnie Brown's 1-yard touchdown dive with 2:42 remaining in the third quarter gave the Chargers a 17-10 advantage.
NOTES: San Diego played without five starters -- WR Malcom Floyd, LB Manti Te'o, LB Donald Butler, CB Shareece Wright and RT D.J. Fluker -- that were declared inactive ... The only Tennessee starter who wound up on the inactive list was DT Sammie Hill ... The Titans announced their 147th straight sellout crowd of 69,143, a streak that counts preseason and playoff games, since LP Field was opened in 1999.
