Throughout the season, the Titans had succeeded by scoring early and often -- they had scored 174 first-half points entering the game -- forcing their opponents to play catch-up. It looked as if Monday night's game would follow that formula, too, when, less than three minutes into the game, McNair found receiver Justin McCareins with a step on cornerback Aaron Beasley down the left sideline. McNair hit McCareins perfectly in stride for a 59-yard touchdown. So much for the calf strain, right?
But McNair was clearly not in top form later. While facing the Jets' pass rush, he threw two interceptions in the first half. That was the first time this season that McNair, who had thrown just 4 interceptions in the first 11 games, had thrown two in one game. It was also the first time he had thrown an interception on third down all season (both first-half interceptions were on third down).
For a game that figured to be a matchup of premier quarterbacks, the first half turned out to be anything but. Pennington threw two interceptions in the first half, too, and he nearly had a third, on the Jets' first drive of the game.
Pennington, with typical accuracy, had driven the Jets down to the Titans' 12-yard line. Pennington was 6 of 7 for 49 yards on the drive, but it was the incomplete pass that nearly ended the drive. On second-and-goal from the 12, Pennington threw a touch pass intended for Santana Moss in the right corner of the end zone. Titans cornerback Samari Rolle, covering Moss most of the game, appeared to intercept the pass. But the Jets challenged the call and officials determined that Rolle did not have control of the ball when he came down.
To make matters worse for the Titans, after Rolle believed he had picked the pass off, he made the forbidden throat-slashing gesture, drawing an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty. So what would have been the Titans' ball on their 20 instead became first-and-goal for the Jets from the 6-yard line. Martin ran left, behind superb blocking by center Kevin Mawae, for the touchdown on the next play to tie the score at 7-7.
But the shootout turned into a dud after that, with the pass protection faulty by both teams, allowing little time for their playmakers to create. McNair threw an interception, picked off over the middle by Sam Garnes.
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