NASHVILLE - The Titans felt embarrassed and angry, and they were determined to get off to a better start in September.
Steve McNair helped them do that in a big way Sunday.
McNair threw for 252 yards and two touchdowns, becoming the fifth quarterback to notch 20,000 yards passing with 3,000 yards rushing as the Titans beat the New Orleans Saints 27-12.
The Titans, who started 1-4 last season, were upset with themselves after a 33-7 loss at Indianapolis Sept. 14. They improved to 2-1 with a dominating performance that could have been better if they had not stopped themselves.
"Our challenge now is to keep this going," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "We bounced back after a tough week."
They settled for two field goals by Gary Anderson, including once inside the New Orleans 10, and McNair fumbled on another possession near the goal line.
But Eddie George had 29 carries for 100 yards and ran for his first touchdown of the season to seal the victory. The Titans held the ball for more than 39 minutes, which was more than enough as the defense had three sacks and held New Orleans to 188 yards total offense.
"We knew what they were going to try to do to us," New Orleans coach Jim Haslett said. "Again, we didn't execute well enough even from the time it was 3-0."
The Titans extended their NFL-best streak to 23 home games without allowing a 100-yard rusher by stopping Deuce McAllister, the NFC's leading rusher last season with 1,388 yards.
McAllister had five carries in the first half for minus-9 yards. He finished with 11 carries for 8 yards.
He caught the Titans at a bad time. They allowed Edgerrin James to run for 120 yards at Indianapolis, and they were determined not to let it happen again.
"We take pride stopping the run," Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck said. "Last week we had a bad game. Everybody decided to say we couldn't stop the run. That's what we do."
Aaron Brooks had no better luck jump-starting the Saints, who had the NFC's highest-scoring offense last season. Against the Titans that offense could only outscore New Orleans' special teams, which had a safety, through the first three quarters.
McNair, who finished 22-of-33, needed 171 yards passing to join Fran Tarkenton, John Elway, Randall Cunningham and Steve Young as the only quarterbacks with such numbers. But he went into the game questionable after dislocating his right ring finger in Week 2.
He showed no signs of pain even with the finger on his throwing hand heavily taped and completed 10 of his first 11 passes against a defense missing five starters because of injuries. He guided three scoring drives that used up more than seven minutes each.
