Punter kicks Titans by Raiders

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Titans found a new hero, giving them some revenge against the Oakland Raiders.

Steve McNair threw two touchdowns and punter Craig Hentrich matched his career high by kicking three field goals as the Titans downed the Raiders 25-20 Sunday night.

It was a messy opener that doubled as a rematch of last season's AFC championship game. The Titans came in wanting to avenge the loss that kept them from their second Super Bowl in four seasons -- and get a jumpstart for this season. Oakland won the AFC title game 41- 24 in January and outscored the Titans 93-49 in two meetings last season that featured plenty of Tennessee mistakes.

This game had lots of errors, too. The teams combined for 28 penalties for 284 yards, but it was the Raiders who hurt themselves over and over. Their share was 17 for 173.

The Raiders didn't show any signs of the offense that was the NFL's best in 2002 until Rich Gannon found Tim Brown for a 25-yard TD that made it 22-20 with 3:30 left.

But McNair answered by driving the Titans 54 yards and set up Hentrich's third field goal himself with a 10-yard scramble. He was 25-of-38 for 269 yards.

Hentrich was doing double duty because Joe Nedney sprained his right knee on the kickoff after he kicked a 50-yard field goal. Hentrich had three field goals in nine years before matching that total Sunday night.

Oakland had one last chance with 31 seconds left and no timeouts. Gannon, last year's MVP, overthrew Jerry Rice and threw the ball at Charlie Garner's back as time expired.

The Titans got some help with their winning margin courtesy of the officials.

McNair found Derrick Mason at the back of the end zone with a 3- yard toss, and Mason was pushed out of bounds by Oakland safety Anthony Dorsett before he got a foot down. Although replays showed Mason likely couldn't have gotten both feet in bounds for a catch, it was ruled a touchdown.

Oakland, 1-3 in the preseason with the veterans playing very little, didn't get going until it was too late. A sellout crowd on its feet whenever the Raiders had the ball helped them rack up eight false starts.

Tennessee's defense did its best to disrupt the Raiders, sacking Gannon four times. Oakland's top receivers, Rice and Brown, never got going. Brown didn't catch his first pass until 2:37 left in the third, and he finished with five catches for 64 yards. Rice had four for 43, and Jerry Porter had one for 6.

The Titans, debuting their alternative jersey with the predominant Columbia blue reminiscent of their days as the Houston Oilers, now haven't lost since the title game after going 4-0 in the preseason.

The NFL delayed the kickoff approximately 20 minutes to accommodate President Bush's national speech. What followed was a very strange game.

The Titans had defensive tackle Robaire Smith ejected in the second quarter for bumping an official and then lost Nedney.

Oakland led only once, 10-9 on a 46-yard TD reception by Garner just before halftime. Sebastian Janikowski kicked a pair of 47-yard field goals.

But Hentrich put the Titans back on top 12-10 at the half with his first field goal since 1995, a 49-yarder that matched his career best. He also added a 34-yarder in the third period and a 33-yarder with 32 seconds left.

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