NASHVILLE - The Titans thought until kickoff that injured Steve McNair would start. He didn't, and backup Billy Volek made sure his absence didn't hurt them though Volek was ill himself.
In his first NFL start, Volek threw for two touchdowns and ran for one as Tennessee snapped a two-game losing streak by rallying for 28-26 win over Buffalo on Sunday.
"What can you say about Billy's effort," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "That is a very tough defense to throw against. Billy hung in there and took a lot of hits. He made big plays."
Volek, a four-year veteran who was undrafted out of Fresno State, filled in ably against the league's second-best defense after fighting flu-like symptoms the previous few days. He was 26-of-41 for 295 yards in helping the Titans hold the ball for nearly 37 minutes.
"Obviously, my emotions were running pretty high," Volek said. "I found out about an hour before the game after warmups that I was probably going to go."
Volek didn't eat or drink much Sunday and got dizzy in the shower after the game. He even received intravenous fluids.
Buffalo had one last chance to force overtime when Drew Bledsoe drove the Bills 81 yards in nine plays before finding Mark Campbell on a 6-yard TD with 24 seconds left.
But Bobby Shaw couldn't control a low pass in the right corner of the end zone on the two-point conversion try. Shaw said he caught the ball, but it was ruled incomplete and replay didn't help.
Tennessee's Erron Kinney recovered Buffalo's onside kick to clinch the victory.
Buffalo coach Gregg Williams said he couldn't wait to see the film, and Bledsoe said it looked like a tremendous catch.
"We've seen that kind of ruling a number of times this year with our team, other teams. If you don't possess the ball the whole way down, then they call it incomplete," Bledsoe said.
Tennessee remained the AFC's top contender for a wild-card berth but Cincinnati's win kept the Titans from clinching their fourth postseason berth in five years.
The Titans eliminated Buffalo by ending the Bills' two-game winning streak.
Volek provided the winning margin on a 1-yard TD run with 4:23 left.
