Sub QB Collins powers Titans

Kerry Collins, filling in for sidelined Vince Young, led Tennessee past Cincinnati.

CINCINNATI (AP) — After a week in the vortex of Vince Young’s drama, the Tennessee Titans were unfazed by all the stuff swirling around them in Paul Brown Stadium.

Boxes. Wrappers. Plastic bags. They took it in stride and won in a breeze.

With Young back home resting his knee, backup quarterback Kerry Collins led Tennessee through Cincinnati’s wind-tunnel of a stadium Sunday. He threw his first touchdown pass in two years and played the gusts expertly in a 24-7 victory, leaving the Titans unbeaten at the end of a trying week.

“It’s never easy when things are going on,” Collins said, “but you’ve got to get lost in the game plan and get ready for what’s going to happen on Sunday.”

The Titans were prepared. The Bengals simply weren’t.

Collins avoided mistakes, rookie Chris Johnson ran for 109 yards, and Rob Bironas guided a low, curving kick through gyrating uprights for a 34-yard field goal. Linebacker Keith Bulluck provided the clincher, blocking Kyle Larson’s punt in the end zone with his right arm, then snatching the ball off the ground for another touchdown.

At 2-0, the Titans are off to their best start since 1999, when they won their first three games and made the only Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. It hasn’t come easy.

Young sprained his left knee during an opening win over Jacksonville, and the Titans asked police to look for him a day later out of concern for his mental state. The drama consumed their week, and Young didn’t accompany the team to Cincinnati, where his 35-year-old backup showed he knows what he’s doing.

“I knew the old gunslinger was going to go out there and do his thing,” Bulluck said. “We had no concerns.”

Collins threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Justin Gage and made no mistakes against the Bengals (0-2), off to their worst start since Marvin Lewis became head coach in 2003.

Gusts well over 30 mph turned Paul Brown Stadium into a wind machine. Swirling debris pelted the field — one of the referees’ white caps sailed more than 50 yards off his head — and every throw became a gamble. Balls floated and veered, forcing the offenses to keep it simple.

Amazingly, Collins went 14-of-21 for 128 yards without an interception.

Carson Palmer was 16-of-27 for 134 yards with two interceptions, including Cortland Finnegan’s third of the season. It wasn’t all the quarterback’s fault. The Bengals’ defense had 12 men on the field for one play, sustaining a Tennessee touchdown drive, and their offense was flagged for having 12 men in the huddle.