What can Titans' Brown do for you?

By Shawn Clarke Sep 11, 2007, 21:38 GMT

- He doesn't deliver all the time like UPS, but Tennessee Titans running back Chris Brown certainly brought the goods in Sunday's 13-10 road win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Brown benefited from excellent blocking up front and used the moves he displayed in his glory days at Colorado before being drafted in 2003. Brown ran the ball 19 times for a career-high 175 yards, thanks to strong cuts and Jacksonville's fear of Vince Young leaving the pocket.

While the Jaguars' front seven stayed home most of the time to contain Young, Brown was either already in the secondary or being tackled after a five or six-yard gain. The fifth-year back, who had just 156 yards on 41 carries in five games last year, made the offseason departure of Travis Henry a little easier to handle. Henry was released in March and opened the door for Brown, who took full advantage of his chances.

Brown averaged a sickening 9.2 yards per carry and had six rushes of 11 yards or more. This is the same player who requested to be traded during training camp last season. I'm sure he's glad that never happened, especially after contributing greatly to the Titans' 282 rushing yards.

'Chris is running with a purpose this year,' Titans veteran offensive lineman Kevin Mawae said. 'He wanted a contract in the free-agency period and didn't get it. I told him you'll get it if you just go out there and play, and that is what he is doing right now. You don't prove yourself in the offseason, you prove yourself on the field and Chris is doing that right now.'

Brown won't be inking any extension in the near future, but he certainly got the attention of the front office in helping the Titans win their season opener for the first time since 2004. Tennessee started 0-5 last season before winning six of their final seven games to just miss the postseason. Brown also captured the attention of the Jaguars crowd of 65,437.

'When they got quiet, we knew we got 'em,' Brown said.

Let's see if Brown can do the complete opposite with the crowd this week, when Tennessee hosts the defending Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts at LP Field.

DEFENSE HOLDS DOWN WIN

I'm sure Titans head coach Jeff Fisher was somewhat wary of how his defense would handle Jacksonville's heralded ground game in Week 1.

After 60 minutes of football, Fisher should feel pretty darn good after holding Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew to a combined 48 yards on the ground. It was certainly a head-scratching moment for Tennessee's defense, which allowed only 72 yards rushing on Sunday.

'We are getting there and we still have to make some improvements, but as far as the overall effort, I think we played well and we shut down a really good running team,' Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth said.

Jacksonville compiled 375 yards rushing in two games against Tennessee last year, but had just six yards on the ground in the first half. Maybe the Jags were too cocky and really believed teams didn't have the wind to keep up in the later stages of the game.

New Titans general manager Mike Reinfeldt, who took over for Floyd Reese during the offseason, confided it was a solid performance by his team.

'It was a great win by the team,' Reinfeldt said. 'We ran the ball, controlled the line of scrimmage. It was a satisfying win.'

UP NEXT: BRING ON THE CHAMPS

Super Bowl XLI MVP Peyton Manning will lead the red-hot Indianapolis Colts into LP Field on Sunday for a battle with the AFC South-rival Titans.

The Colts easily handled the New Orleans Saints, 41-10, in last Thursday's season-opening game at the RCA Dome. If Tennessee had worries about shutting down Jacksonville's offense, one could only imagine what Fisher is thinking about the Colts. Tennessee's secondary, led by former Colt Nick Harper, will be tested early and often this weekend.

Indianapolis used to have problems on natural grass but those days are over, hence the Super Bowl win over the Chicago Bears on the grass in Miami.

Manning picked apart the New Orleans defensive backs for 288 yards and three touchdowns in the opener, while Reggie Wayne hauled in seven passes for 115 yards and two TD's. Tennessee allowed 200 yards passing last week.

Indianapolis holds a 14-10 lead in the all-time regular season series with Tennessee, but had a seven-game win streak in the series come to an end with a 20-17 loss at LP Field in Week 13 of last season.

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