Friday, Nov. 06, 2009

NFL Preview - Titans visit 49ers in San Francisco

Chris Johnson continues to live in the shadows of Adrian Peterson as the NFL's best running back, but the league's current leading rusher has earned a few headlines of his own for the Tennessee Titans.

Johnson will try turn a few more heads this Sunday, when the Titans pay a visit to the San Francisco 49ers with hopes of recording their second win of the season.

The 5-11, 200-pound Johnson played a key role in Tennessee's first win of the season, a 30-13 triumph versus Jacksonville last week, by rushing for a franchise-record 228 yards on 24 carries with a pair of touchdown runs. Johnson had scoring sprints of 89 and 52 yards, giving him an NFL-high five runs of over 40 yards this season.

Johnson has been a spectacular runner ever since the Titans drafted him in the first round two years ago. His elusiveness and vision has him sitting at the top of the NFL with 824 yards rushing and a weekly average of 117.7 yards per game. He certainly has proved the naysayers wrong for knocking him for his size. Minnesota's Peterson is tied for third in rushing and like the rest of the league, is aware of Johnson's success.

While Johnson stole the show with his big performance, Titans head coach Jeff Fisher rolled the dice by naming Vince Young his starter in favor of ineffective veteran Kerry Collins. Young did just enough to keep the job against the Jaguars, as he was a pedestrian 15-of-18 for 125 yards and a touchdown.

Tennessee owner Bud Adams reportedly lobbied for Young to be the starter again after the franchise selected the former University of Texas star third overall in the 2006 NFL Draft. Young is more mobile and stronger than the savvy Collins, and hopes to lead the Titans to their second win of the season and first on the road in his third start since 2007.

Standing in the way of that goal are the win-deprived 49ers, who have dropped three in a row since a solid 3-1 start. Much like Tennessee's Fisher, 49ers head coach Mike Singletary made a switch under center last week and opted for former No. 1 draft pick Alex Smith, who has played in the past two games and has four touchdown passes to a pair of interceptions over that time.

San Francisco suffered a hard-luck defeat at Indianapolis last weekend, even though it prevented Colts All-Pro quarterback Peyton Manning from throwing a touchdown pass. The wasted effort was highlighted by a 22-yard touchdown pass from Indianapolis running back Joseph Addai to Reggie Wayne that put the Colts ahead in the fourth quarter, as Niners back Frank Gore's 64-yard touchdown run to open the scoring never held.

Overall, Singletary was pleased with Smith's performance and seems to be set on a starter for the rest of the season.

Smith, however, won't have left tackle Joe Staley blocking his backside after it learned that the big lineman is hampered with a sprained right knee. Staley will miss the first game of his career on Sunday, with tackle Barry Sims expected to fill in this week for the 49ers, who are playing an opponent from the AFC South for a third consecutive week.

San Francisco's defense figures to provide a stern test for Johnson, as the 49ers currently sit second in the NFL with an average of 84.9 rushing yards per game allowed.

SERIES HISTORY

San Francisco has a 7-4 lead in its all-time series with Tennessee, but was a 33-22 road loser when the clubs last met, in 2005 in Nashville. The Niners won the previous two contests, including a 24-22 home victory in 1999. The Titans franchise last won in San Francisco in 1993, when the then-Oilers earned a 10-7 triumph.