NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- The Tennessee Titans have a defense, too.
With their explosive offense struggling, the Titans received a big effort from their defense en route to a 10-3 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Entering the contest with the NFL's second-highest scoring offense, the Titans managed just a 33-yard field goal by Gary Anderson and Steve McNair's five-yard touchdown pass to Justin McCareins in the first half.
"The offense has been carrying us the last few weeks and we needed a game like this today - for the defense to rise up and really show how good we can be or how good we are," Titans free safety Lance Schulters said. "We showed up to play today and made the plays when they counted."
After Seth Marler kicked a 39-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter for the Jaguars, rookie Byron Leftwich nearly engineered a tying drive in the waning moments.
The Jaguars (2-8) had a 1st-and-goal at the Titans 3 but were stopped on four straight plays. On fourth down, Leftwich threw an incompletion in the end zone.
"They only scored three points, but the game was decided there at the end when we stopped them four times on the goal line," Titans linebacker Peter Sirmon said.
"The play just didn't work," Leftwich said. "It doesn't matter what happened on the play. It was just one of those plays where you have options, but they did a great job of bringing more than we could block."
McNair completed 13-of-25 passes for just 166 yards and an interception for the Titans (8-2), who extended their winning streak to five games. Tennessee had scored 30 or more points in six straight games.
Despite being without speed-rushing end Jevon Kearse, who injured his left ankle early in the first quarter, the Titans' defense did not seem to miss a beat, holding the Jaguars to 271 yards.
It was particularly rough day for Leftwich, who completed 15-of-31 passes for 151 yards and two interceptions. He also threw for just 158 yards and three interceptions in a 27-21 loss to the Titans in October.
