Remember this Titan?

Collins is still around, looking unbeatable

KERRY COLLINS''Second lease''

Quarterback Kerry Collins was wondering whether he'd reached the end of his NFL road.

Players often dream of pulling a Michael Strahan and going out on top, but three years ago, Collins seemed resigned to his career finishing at a low point. He had just concluded a two-year stint as the Raiders' starter, the team was 4-12, and he was a free agent.

The phone was hardly ringing. Few teams were interested in a quarterback who had completed just 53 percent of his passes in 2005 and was entering his 12th NFL season.

"I had a couple of tough years in Oakland, and there was a time after my days with the Raiders that I was wondering where my career was going to go," said Collins, who did what most players at that stage of their careers usually do - pondered retirement.

Something told him to hang on.

Then, after training camps had broken, the call he was hoping to receive came through. The Tennessee Titans, who weren't ready to turn the reins over to rookie Vince Young and were unsure of backup Billy Volek, wanted to sign him to a free agent contract.

After months of uncertainty, Collins was back in the game.

Then he played his way back into a world of uncertainty.

In three early-season starts, all losses, he completed 46 percent of his passes while tossing one touchdown and six interceptions. The performance ended his days as a starter, and had Collins again wondering - over the rest of the 2006 season and throughout 2007 - whether he'd ever have the chance to be a No. 1 again.

Considering that turn of events, some might say it's hard to believe that Collins, now 35, will be under center tomorrow night when the 6-0 Titans - the NFL's only unbeaten team - host the Colts on "Monday Night Football."

Then again, in a league that is entertainingly unpredictable, why should anyone be surprised that Collins is back in the fast lane, at the controls of perhaps the league's most surprising team?

Collins stepped in for an injured Young in the fourth quarter of the Titans' opening win, and with Tennessee having ripped off five straight wins behind him, he has a solid grasp on the top job. In many ways, he's a shining example of what makes the NFL so great - a player left for dead rising up in a big way.

"It's something I'm relishing and trying to embrace. We've gotten off to a great start and it's fun to be out there again, fun to be starting, fun to be on a great team," said Collins, who has suited up for the Panthers (1995-98), Saints (1998), Giants (1999-2003), Raiders (2004-05) and Titans (2006-08). "I'm just trying to enjoy it because certainly I've seen the downside of things."

Collins credits the impressive start to a simple formula of a strong running game (rookie Chris Johnson and LenDale White are a nice 1-2 punch), stingy defense (10.6 points per game), timely plays in the passing game, and a good turnover differential (tied for an NFL-best plus-6).

It hasn't hurt that Collins has played much better than he did in his first starting assignment in Tennessee; he's 75 of 133 for 836 yards (56.4 percent), with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Though not one of the league's more mobile QBs, he has had outstanding protection (1 sack) from an offensive line anchored by underrated left tackle Michael Roos.

Still, not everyone is a believer in the Titans just yet, with skeptics pointing to their schedule - games against Jacksonville, Cincinnati, Houston, Minnesota, Baltimore, and Kansas City. Doubters also want to see what happens when an opponent shuts down their rushing attack and forces them to win through the air with unheralded receivers.

Collins points to a 13-10 win over Baltimore Oct. 5 as a confidence-building game for the team. The Titans, who had grown accustomed to playing with a lead, put together an impressive fourth-quarter comeback to rally from a 10-3 deficit.

Now Collins, who signed a one-year contract prior to the season, isn't putting a limit on how much longer he'll play. He is down to 230 pounds - the lightest he's been in 20 years.

"That, to me, has given me a second lease on my career," said Collins, crediting a better diet and a program implemented by longtime Titans strength coach Steve Watterson, a Rhode Island native. "I have so much more energy and my footwork is still quick. Physically, I have what it takes to be an effective starter in this league."

Getting caught in between
Dick Jauron, who late in the 2005 season took over as interim coach of the Lions after serving as defensive coordinator, has a good idea of what Jim Haslett (Rams), Mike Singletary (49ers), and Tom Cable (Raiders) are going through in their current interim roles.

All three coaches face longer-than-normal odds to orchestrate an in-season turnaround.

Jauron said one of the toughest parts for an interim coach is overseeing a team for which you've had limited input regarding personnel and practice organization because those are difficult to change in the middle of a season. Another challenge is transitioning from addressing just one side of the ball in meetings to the entire team.

"All those things are part of the interim job," said Jauron. "They're just facts, so you deal with it as best you can and go on."

Jauron went 1-4 in his interim stint with the Lions. Thankfully for him, then-Bills general manager Marv Levy overlooked that record and didn't worry about generating a Bill Parcells-type buzz with the fan base when deciding to hire Jauron prior to the 2006 season.

That's the exception to the rule, although the Rams' Haslett appears to have a few things going for him. His team seems to be re-energized under his leadership, and part of that is due to the negative culture that had been created by former coach Scott Linehan.

Haslett has already led the Rams to wins in his first two games, and they take that little winning streak into Foxborough to face the Patriots today.

From afar, Jauron has been impressed.

"Jim is a terrific coach, and obviously he's proven that whether it's as a coordinator, a position coach, or as a head coach," Jauron said. "I like him a lot personally, so I'm really pulling for him. The guy has a track record, he's a good guy, and they're winning, so hopefully for him that will continue."

Performances you can count on
A snapshot of the NFL season by the numbers, 0-10, with statistics that catch the eye:

0 - Points scored by the 0-6 Lions in the first quarter.

1 - The Titans' ranking in red-zone offense, as they've scored 13 TDs in 18 trips inside the 20.

2 - Kickoff returns for touchdowns this season, one by San Diego's Darren Sproles and one by Dallas's Felix Jones.

3 - The down on which Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel has done his best work, leading the AFC with a 108.8 passer rating.

4 - Turnovers by the Giants, tied for the fewest in the league with the Dolphins.

5 - Special teams touchdowns the Vikings have allowed.

6 - Total number of blocked punts, including three off the foot of Carolina's Jason Baker.

7 - First downs that rookie Cardinals running back Tim Hightower has converted in third-and-1 situations, best in the NFL.

8 - Rushing touchdowns by Tennessee's LenDale White, a league high.

9 - Sacks by Cowboys outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware, who leads the league.

10 - Interceptions thrown by 49ers quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan, who leads the league.

Etc.
Rush hour
Redskins running back Clinton Portis, who leads the NFL with 818 rushing yards, has shifted into a higher gear this month. Portis has gained 120 yards or more in each of the last four games, and if he hits the 120-yard mark today against the Lions, he'll become only the second player in league history to rush for 120 yards in five consecutive games twice in a career. O.J. Simpson, in 1973 and 1975, had the only other pair of feet to accomplish that feat.

At last they meet
In a bit of a scheduling quirk, the 5-1 Bills play their first AFC East game today when they travel to Miami. The game kicks off a three-game division stretch - at Miami, vs. the Jets, at New England - that could create some separation in the East. The Bills are the only NFL team that has yet to play a division game.

The little drummer ploy
Titans rookie running back Chris Johnson marches to the beat of his own drummer. Seriously. After racing for a 66-yard touchdown last Sunday against the Chiefs, Johnson jumped over the Kansas City band at the field and started banging the conga drums. So Johnson got a good chuckle when a set of conga drums arrived at the Titans' facility last week, addressed to him. He wasn't sure where they came from, but coach Jeff Fisher wasn't exactly laughing. He didn't like that Johnson's drum celebration cost the team a 15-yard penalty.

He has yet to catch fire
The Jaguars can't be happy with the return on their investment after signing receiver Jerry Porter to a contract this offseason that includes $10 million in bonuses/guarantees. Porter battled a hamstring injury in camp, missed the first three games, and has been used sparingly in the last three. His production: 1 catch for 6 yards.

Fishing for that seventh win
Fisher is in his 15th season with the Titans; he's the longest-tenured head coach in the NFL. If the Titans win tomorrow night against the Colts, Fisher will join Tom Landry and Don Shula as the only head coaches in history to start a season 7-0 in their 15th year or later.

Orton hears no boos
When the Bears passed up the chance to select a potential quarterback-of-the-future in Chad Henne or Brian Brohm in the second round of this year's draft, critics blasted them for failing to address the most important position on the field. But it turns out the Bears had their man all along in Kyle Orton. The 2005 fourth-round pick, who won the starting job over Rex Grossman in the preseason, is now 16-9 in 25 career starts, the most recent victory last Sunday's wild 48-41 shootout over the Vikings.

Time is working against them
It's harder to score when you don't have the ball, and that probably explains some of the Colts' struggles. Indianapolis is fortunate to be 3-3 considering it is losing the time-of-possession battle, 26:51 to 33:09. Only the Lions (24:47) and Seahawks (26:02) are possessing the ball less, and they have one win between them.

Super groups
The Giants and Steelers square off today, and surely that game will have some reflecting on the 2004 draft, when the Chargers selected quarterback Eli Manning first overall and traded him to the Giants, and the Steelers picked Ben Roethlisberger at No. 11. Turns out they are one of only three sets of quarterbacks in NFL history who were drafted in the same year and went on to win a Super Bowl. The others: Jim Plunkett (first round) and Joe Theismann (fourth round) in 1971, and Phil Simms (first round) and Joe Montana (third round) in 1979.

Keep it fair
The Texans don't win many games, but they can be counted on for one thing: few penalties. They are on pace to commit the fewest penalties since the NFL went to a 16-game schedule in 1978, having been flagged for 16 accepted penalties, an average of 2.7 per game.

Extra points
The Giants have a nice streak of durability going, as Manning and his five offensive linemen (left tackle David Diehl, left guard Rich Seubert, center Shaun O'Hara, right guard Chris Snee, and right tackle Kareem McKenzie) have started the last 22 regular-season games together. That's the longest active streak in the NFL . . . The Patriots aren't the only team to see a spike in quarterback sacks surrendered (21 in all of 2007; 26 already this season). The 0-7 Bengals, after surrendering a franchise-low 17 last season, have already given up 26 . . . The Titans will add quarterback Steve McNair, running back Eddie George, and tight end Frank Wycheck to their "Ring of Honor" at LP Field during halftime of tomorrow night's game . . . Lions coach Rod Marinelli has benched right tackle Gosder Cherilus, the team's first-round draft choice out of Boston College . . . Vikings coach Brad Childress, with his team in its bye week, gave players six straight days off as he decided that they needed rest more than on-field work.

Did you know?
The Chargers-Saints game today in London is the first of at least three more regular-season NFL games that will be played in the United Kingdom through 2010.

Mike Reiss can be reached at mreiss@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.