What’s the difference among the Tennessee Titans, Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars? It’s often hard to tell.
All took up residence in their cities between 1994 and 1997. All play in states where college sports are more important. All have nondescript uniforms — forgettable variations of blue. All have good running backs and sketchy quarterbacks. None has won a Super Bowl. All have longtime coaches who perpetually appear to be on the “hot seat.”
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Last week, when two of the teams met on “Monday Night Football,” they produced a predictable stinker, with Tennessee throttling Jacksonville 30-3.
But from this unexceptional trio, there may be a team breaking from the pack. The Titans have won three straight impressively — at Dallas, at Jacksonville and Sunday at home against surging Philadelphia.
In the crowded AFC, in which there are playoff contenders aplenty but none without flaws, why not Tennessee?
Sunday’s 37-19 victory was a coming out party for wide receiver Kenny Britt, a 22-year-old second-year player from Rutgers who burned the Eagles with seven receptions for 225 yards and three touchdowns despite sitting out much of the first half for disciplinary reasons.
At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, Britt has the long-limbed, equine quality of Randy Moss and apparently the character to match. The Titans are trying to sort out Britt’s role in a bar brawl, which occurred in the wee hours of Friday morning in Nashville.
But it was the havoc Britt wrought on the field that boosted the Titans on Sunday.
“He’s going to do everything he can to get the ball. He’s aggressive going after it,” Titans quarterback Kerry Collins, who subbed for the injured Vince Young, told reporters. “There were some throws that weren’t exactly perfect, but the guy did whatever he had to do to get the ball.”
With Britt outside, Chris Johnson running out of the backfield and Young — who is due back for next week’s game at San Diego — triggering the offense, no team in the NFL can match the playmakers of the Titans (5-2).
And maybe, for once, Tennessee will get an identity.
