NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Billy Volek filled in for Steve McNair, but the Tennessee Titans didn't need a "Music City Miracle" to beat the Buffalo Bills.
Making his first NFL start, Volek threw for 295 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score to lead the Titans to a 28-26 victory over the Bills.
"He studies, has good vision and knows where to go with the football," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said of Volek. "With an opportunity to have Steve get some more rest to recover, we took advantage of having a good backup quarterback. We needed this kind of lift."
McNair had started 43 straight games and dressed for this game as the backup despite nursing a cracked bone spur in his left ankle, but did not play. However, Volek was more than up to the task of snapping Tennessee's two-game losing streak.
"Obviously, my emotions were running pretty high," said Volek, who completed 26-of-41 passes and did not throw an interception. "I found out about an hour before the game after warmups that I was probably going to go. I was just going to take one play at a time. I think things went well."
The win kept Tennessee (10-4) one game behind Indianapolis in the AFC South. The Titans are in control of the first wild-card spot.
Buffalo had a chance to force overtime after Drew Bledsoe hit tight end Mark Campbell with a six-yard touchdown pass with 24 seconds left. But on the two-point conversion try, Bobby Shaw was unable to control the ball while attempting to make a sliding catch in the end zone.
"As he (Shaw) rolled over, his arm came up in the air, but the ball was already loose," said referee Tom White. "So he never really had possession of it under the definition of a completed pass. Therefore, it's incomplete and the try is no good."
"The only time the ball came out was when I tried to raise my hand to show that I had it," Shaw said "The whole time I was sliding, I had the ball. How can he call it incomplete when I lose it when I am showing him I had it? As far as I'm concerned, it's a very bad call."
It would figure the game would end in some controversy for the Bills, who were making their first trip here since a heartbreaking 22-16 loss to the Titans in an AFC wild card game that is known in playoff lore as "The Music City Miracle." Frank Wycheck fired a suspicious looking cross-field lateral to Kevin Dyson, who raced 75 yards for a touchdown with three seconds remaining to give Tennessee the victory.
This finish was not as painful, but ended up officially eliminating the Bills (6-8) from the playoff race.
For Tennessee, this game was about Volek, who accounted for all of his touchdowns in the second half when the Titans rallied from an 11-point deficit.
A fumble by Volek resulted in a 28-yard touchdown run by Bills defensive tackle Pat Williams, putting the Titans in a 17-6 hole.
But the fourth-year backup quarterback out of Fresno State atoned for the turnover. He hit tight end Erron Kinney with a 14-yard scoring play and Robert Holcombe ran in for the two-point conversion with 5:35 left in the third quarter.
On Tennessee's next possession, Volek tossed a two-yard touchdown to Justin McCareins 29 seconds into the fourth quarter, giving the Titans a 21-17 lead.
After Rian Lindell kicked a 32-yard field goal for Buffalo, Volek scored on a one-yard run to increase the advantage to 28-20 with 4:23 remaining.
