Single play might have turned season for Colts, Tennessee

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indianapolis Colts are in the middle of another promising season, while the Tennessee Titans are falling apart.\nAnd one play started it all.\nIn Week 2, the Colts and Titans were tied in the fourth quarter when cornerback Nick Harper wrestled a pass away from Titans receiver Derrick Mason in the end zone.\nPeyton Manning drove the Colts 80 yards for the go-ahead score, and the Colts held on for a 31-17 win in Tennessee.\n"It was probably the biggest play of our season so far," Colts coach Tony Dungy said of Harper's interception. "We were sitting at 0-1 looking at them taking the lead in the fourth quarter ... and staring at possibly 0-2. Instead of going 0-2 and being behind in the tiebreakers in the division, we were 1-1 and that was huge."\nThe AFC South rivals meet again Sunday with their seasons headed in vastly different directions.\nThe interception jump-started a four-game winning streak for the Colts (8-3), who are thinking Super Bowl on the strength of Manning's lights-out play.\nOnce perennial playoff contenders themselves, the Titans (4-7) went into a tailspin after Harper's pick, losing five of six games.\n"We had opportunities in that game, and we kind of let it slip through our hands," Mason said. "They are a much different team than they were back then, and we are also. We've got a lot more people that are not playing that were playing in that game. They're on a roll right now."\nAnd the Titans are left to ponder what might have been.\n"If I had caught the ball, would that have changed their season around or our season?" Mason asked. "I don't know. Probably would have. ... He made a great play on the ball."\nThe Titans limp into Indianapolis with a rash of injuries and quarterback Steve McNair, who shared MVP honors with Manning last season, talking retirement.\nTennessee will be without tackle Brad Hopkins (hand), safety Lance Schulters (foot), linebacker Rocky Boiman (calf) and cornerback Andre Woolfolk (wrist). Running back Chris Brown (toe), defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth (elbow) and McNair (sternum) are all questionable.\nMcNair said earlier this week that this has been one of the toughest seasons of his career. The sternum injury has limited his effectiveness, but he said he is more concerned with how it has affected his home life.\n"This injury is causing me to miss out on a lot of things, not football-wise, but personal-wise," he said.\nRetirement is the furthest thing from Manning's mind.\nHe has exhibited an uncanny command of the offense, throwing 41 TD passes in the first 11 games, easily on pace to break Dan Marino's single-season record of 48.\n"I think they're on a different level than when we played them (in Week 2)," linebacker Keith Bulluck said. "(Edgerrin James) is running as good as I've seen him run since his college days. Peyton Manning is unconscious -- in a zone like Michael Jordan in the fourth quarter."\nComing off a six-touchdown game at Detroit on Thanksgiving, Manning and the rest of the Colts are well-rested and ready for the stretch run that includes division games against the Titans and Texans and wraps up with Baltimore, San Diego and Denver.\n"We look at this as the critical part coming up," Dungy said.\nThe banged-up Titans, however, are playing as if they have nothing to lose.\n"It takes a lot of pressure off of us because everyone expects us to go up there and get beat by 50 points," defensive end Kevin Carter said. "We have to focus on not worrying about what people think about us and win the game."\nSaid tackle Jason Mathews: "We don't buy into the fact they seemed destined for the playoffs and we aren't. It shouldn't matter the Colts are going to the playoffs and we aren't"