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Titans improve to 9-0

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CHICAGO (AP) " Kerry Collins reared back, fired away and nailed the target just as he got hit.

Then, he shrugged it off and had his best game, throwing for a season-high 289 yards and two touchdowns to lead the unbeaten Tennessee Titans to a 21-14 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

One thing: The big hit came two days earlier. And the target was a small deer, not a receiver.

"I shot a buck the other night with a muzzleloader," Collins said, explaining a scratch on the bridge of his nose. "The thing kicked back and popped me. I wish I had a better story than that."

He couldn't ask for a better record, though.

Even though the hit left Collins bleeding, he looked good enough against the Bears and helped the Titans overcome one of the worst rushing performances in franchise history.

Now, they're 9-0 even though they managed just 20 yards on the ground.

"It's nice to win a ballgame and not play well," coach Jeff Fisher said.

The 20 yards rushing were just one above their franchise low, and they had minus-5 in the first half. It was a stunning performance for a team that was third in the league entering the game.

Actually, some parts of the team performed well.

The Titans set a club record with their 12th straight regular-season win thanks to Collins and a defense that shut down Rex Grossman and the Bears.

Collins completed 12 straight passes at one point and was 30-of-41 without an interception. Brandon Jones caught eight passes for 82 yards, and Bo Scaife had 10 catches for 78 yards with a touchdown.

That was enough to make up for a miserable performance by the running backs.

LenDale White managed 14 yards on 10 attempts, although he had a touchdown in the fourth quarter, and Chris Johnson carried 14 times for 8 yards.

"Did you look and see how many guys they put in the box?" Johnson said. "Eight, sometimes nine. They really wanted us to beat them throwing the ball."

Tennessee did that well enough to remain the NFL's lone unbeaten team.

"Everybody right now is filling their role," said Collins, who took over for Vince Young after the first game. "For me, you play long enough you're going to be on good teams. You're going to be on bad teams. At this point in my career to be playing on a good football team that has a chance to go out and win every Sunday is exciting for me."

Is this the best team he's played on?

"We're getting there," said Collins, who played in a Super Bowl with the New York Giants. "We're getting there."

With Kyle Orton nursing a sprained ankle, Grossman delivered an uneven performance in his first start since Dec. 6. He was 20-for-37 for 173 yards and led the Bears (5-4) on a 75-yard touchdown drive on their first possession. He also got picked off on the next one.

Rookie Matt Forte struggled at times, running for 72 yards after setting a season-high with 126 against Detroit, and the offense managed 243 yards in all.

Coming off a 19-16 overtime win over Green Bay, the Titans took a 14-7 lead early in the third quarter when Collins connected with former Bear Justin Gage for a 12-yard touchdown -- the first by a Tennessee wide receiver since the second game.

A 2-yard run by White early in the fourth quarter made it 21-7, but the Bears refused to go quietly.

Grossman fell into the end zone from the 1 to make it a seven-point game with 4:55 left after a 29-yard pass to Devin Hester. They had a chance to tie it after a punt, taking over at the Tennessee 41, but the Titans held firm again -- even though outsiders keep insisting each week they'll lose.

"Maybe they have some kind of angel around them or something. I don't know," Bears receiver Rashied Davis said.

Giants 36, Eagles 31

At Philadelphia, Eli Manning threw two touchdown passes, Brandon Jacobs had two TD runs and the Giants held on to further distance themselves in the brutal NFC East.

The Eagles (5-4) had the ball at their own 45 with 1:55 left, but Brian Westbrook was stopped on fourth-and-1.

The Giants (8-1) are two games ahead of the Washington Redskins and three in front of the Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. New York is 3-0 against its division rivals.

Colts 24, Steelers 20

At Pittsburgh, Peyton Manning took advantage of Ben Roethlisberger's second costly interception to find Dominic Rhodes on a 17-yard TD pass with 3:04 left for Indianapolis' only lead.

The Colts (5-4) had dropped their last 12 in Pittsburgh, including the postseason, dating to a 41-7 win in 1968 when the Steelers played at now-demolished Pitt Stadium.

Pittsburgh (6-3) had a chance to win at the end, but Roethlisberger's pass into the end zone on the final play was intercepted by Melvin Bullitt.

Chargers 20, Chiefs 19

At San Diego, Clinton Hart knocked down Tyler Thigpen's 2-point conversion pass with 23 seconds left and the Chargers held on to beat the scrappy Chiefs.

The Chiefs (1-9) had pulled within one on Thigpen's 3-yard scoring pass to Tony Gonzalez.

San Diego (4-5) was booed off the field while trailing 13-6 at halftime, but rallied behind Philip Rivers in the second half.

Panthers 17, Raiders 6

At Oakland, Calif., Jake Delhomme threw a touchdown pass on the opening drive before matching his career-worst performance with four interceptions, but it was still enough to beat the Raiders.

DeAngelo Williams ran for 140 yards and scored on a 69-yard run for the only touchdown after the opening drive for the visiting Panthers (7-2).

Oakland (2-7) lost for the fourth time in five games under interim coach Tom Cable.

Vikings 28, Packers 27

At Minneapolis, Adrian Peterson ran for 192 yards and the go-ahead score with 2:22 left in helping Minnesota snap a five-game losing streak to the Packers.

Mason Crosby's 52-yard field goal attempt in the closing seconds was just wide, helping the Vikings (5-4) pull into a first-place tie with the Chicago Bears in the NFC North.

Green Bay (4-5) allowed two safeties in the first half, the first time that's happened since San Francisco did it against St. Louis on Sept. 8, 1996, according to STATS LLC.

Dolphins 21, Seahawks 19

At Miami, the Dolphins (5-4) won their third straight and remained in the thick of the AFC East race, moving above .500 for the first time since the end of the 2005 season.

Ricky Williams ran for 105 yards, his first 100-yard game since Jan. 1, 2006.

The Seahawks (2-7) trailed for the final 53 minutes but nearly forced overtime. A two-point conversion try with 2:57 left was batted away at the goal line.

Falcons 34, Saints 20

At Atlanta, Drew Brees threw a season-high three interceptions, the last returned 95 yards for a touchdown by Chevis Jackson in the Saints' road loss.

Matt Ryan threw two touchdown passes for the Falcons (6-3), who won for the fourth time in five games to remain in the playoff hunt. The Saints (4-5) again failed to put together their first winning streak of the season.

Patriots 20, Bills 10

Patriots rookie runner BenJarvus Green-Ellis had his best game as a pro, quarterback Matt Cassel had a solid one and the free-falling Bills had another bad one in Foxborough, Mass.

The Patriots (6-3) moved a game ahead of the Bills (5-4), who are 1-4 since winning their first four games. The loss was Buffalo's 10th straight to New England and was especially harmful to the Bills, who have lost three straight in the division.

Jets 47, Rams 3

At East Rutherford, N.J., Thomas Jones had three touchdown runs, Jay Feely kicked four field goals -- including a franchise record-tying 55-yarder -- and the Jets converted five turnovers into 27 points for the largest margin of victory in team history.

The Jets (6-3) have won five of six, with the only blemish a 16-13 overtime loss at Oakland three weeks ago. New York is tied with New England atop the AFC East, and the rivals play for sole possession Thursday night.

Things were so bad for the visiting Rams (2-7) that Trent Green, who replaced the ineffective Marc Bulger at halftime, hit umpire Bill Schuster in the head with a pass.

Ravens 41, Texans 13

At Houston, Joe Flacco threw for two touchdowns and Ray Lewis had a pair of interceptions to lead the Ravens to their fourth straight win. Baltimore (6-3) has scored at least 27 points in a team-record four consecutive games.

The Texans (3-6) had a mistake-filled day with Sage Rosenfels at quarterback for the injured Matt Schaub. Rosenfels was intercepted four times, the first coming in the end zone.