Titans 20, Colts 17

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) The Tennessee Titans have tapped into a major vein of comeback magic.<br/><br/>Rob Bironas kicked a 60-yard field goal, the franchise's longest ever, with 7 seconds left, and

Sunday, December 3rd 2006, 3:29 pm

By: News On 6

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) The Tennessee Titans have tapped into a major vein of comeback magic.

Rob Bironas kicked a 60-yard field goal, the franchise's longest ever, with 7 seconds left, and the Titans upset Indianapolis 20-17 Sunday for their first victory over the Colts since December 2002 and their second straight amazing comeback.

The team that tied for the NFL's second-biggest comeback in the final 10 minutes last week against the New York Giants struck again Sunday against the Colts (10-2), who had lost only four of their previous 36 games.

The Titans (5-8) didn't trail by 21 this time, but they were down 14-0 in the 1st half before starting this comeback just before halftime. They intercepted Peyton Manning twice, and Vince Young threw for 2 touchdowns and used his legs to help keep the ball away from the two-time NFL MVP.

Indianapolis came in needing a victory to clinch the division for a club-record fourth straight year and its seventh playoff berth in eight years.

After Bironas' kick, he made a 49-yarder with 6 seconds left to beat the Giants, Tennessee still had to kick the ball back to the Colts. But Manning never got his hands on it again. Bryan Fletcher caught the kickoff, lateraled to Marvin Harrison, who tossed to Kelvin Hayden, who was tackled, running the last seconds off the clock.

The Titans then swarmed each other on the field, celebrating with the fans who didn't want to leave.

Indianapolis outgained Tennessee 451-382, but the Colts only had the ball for a little more than 12 minutes in the 2nd half and got only 47 yards in the 3rd quarter.

The big stop came late in the 4th quarter.

The Titans, who came in allowing the most yards in the NFL, forced Indianapolis to settle for a tying field goal after facing 1st & Goal at the Tennessee 1 late in the 4th quarter. They stopped Joseph Addai for a 1-yard loss, then Manning tossed an apparent TD to Ben Utecht, only to see the tight end flagged for pass interference. That backed up the Colts to the 12, and Manning overthrew Reggie Wayne.

Manning then scrambled for 5 yards and lateraled to Addai, who was stopped at the 2 on 3rd & Goal. Adam Vinatieri kicked a 20-yard field goal and tied the game at 17 with 2:38 to go.

Young, who drove the Titans 95 yards in 11 plays, put them ahead 17-14 with a 9-yard pass to Brandon Jones with 12:24 left in the 4th quarter. He then set up Bironas for the longest field goal since Al Del Greco's 56-yarder against San Francisco on October 27, 1996, by moving 33 yards in 9 plays.

The rookie quarterback finished 12-25 for 163 yards, and he scrambled 9 times for 78 yards, his biggest day rushing this year.

Manning finished 21-28 for 351 yards and a 68-yard touchdown pass to Harrison, who had 7 receptions for 172 yards.