NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Steve McNair was given a day off to rest his injuries and it could come in handy with the Tennessee Titans prepping for the playoffs.
Filling in for McNair, veteran Neil O'Donnell threw a pair of touchdowns and Eddie George eclipsed 10,000 yards for his career as the Titans concluded the regular season with a 33-13 rout of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
McNair, who has battled through ankle and calf injuries recently, was held out at the last moment by Titans coach Jeff Fisher. The extra rest gave O'Donnell an opportunity to make his first start in over two years and he did not disappoint.
O'Donnell, who was cut by the Titans in August, was re-signed on December 18 after backup Billy Volek suffered a lacerated spleen. Behind O'Donnell's two TDs to Derrick Mason and four field goals by Gary Anderson, the Titans (12-4) actually had a chance to claim the AFC South title.
"It felt great to be back with all the guys, just having fun again," said O'Donnell, who was 18-of-27 for 232 yards with an interception. "I've had a lot of tough Sundays the past four months but this was one of the better ones.
"It's kind of amazing how we clicked so fast. A lot of those were timing routes. When I first signed here, I didn't want to overdo it. To be honest with you, I wasn't throwing much. We had six inches of snow up in New Jersey. To go outside and try to find someone to throw a football with in Week 15 is kind of hard."
O'Donnell had favorable field position most of the day as the Titans' defense registered four interceptions. The 14-year veteran hadn't played since Tennessee's playoff win over Pittsburgh last January.
But O'Donnell showed little rust. His first scoring drive led to a field goal by Anderson and his second drive resulted in his first TD since January 6, 2001 vs. Cincinnati.
As they were building a big lead over Tampa Bay, Indianapolis was losing at Houston. But the Colts rallied for the victory and the Titans will now begin their fourth postseason under Fisher with a trip to Baltimore, which they lost to in the 2000 divisional round.
"As far as this game in concerned, it was a must win for us because we felt the Texans would play the Colts very well," Fisher said. "We did everything possible to win this game. Steve was better than he was last week and could have played. However, we felt our best chance to have success in the postseason was to give Steve some extra opportunity to rest."
George finished with 87 yards on 26 carries and surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the seventh time in his eight seasons.
In a game that might have been considered a possible Super Bowl preview at the start of the season, Tampa Bay (7-9) finished with a losing record for the first time since 1996 and is out of the postseason for the first time in five years.
"It's very frustrating," Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden said. "We are very realistic about what has occurred here in the last year or so. A lot of things have changed since Super Bowl XXXVII obviously."
