by Sports Xchange

But the Tennessee Titans, since reinserting Vince Young as their starting quarterback, have gone a different direction, using Young and lightning-fast running back Chris Johnson to run the option.

Normally, NFL coaches and personnel people scoff at the option as strictly a college offense, correctly pointing out that NFL linebackers and defensive backs are too fast and shrewd for it to work.

But when a team has a mobile quarterback like Young, whose legs are sometimes a more consistent threat than his arm, and the fastest player in the league in Johnson to carry it out, then perhaps the option can have a small place in a team's offense, just as the Wildcat does in Miami and other places.

Johnson, who leads the NFL in rushing with 1,091 and has 495 yards rushing since Young took over, is a believer in the dual threat that has evolved with them both being in the game together.

"It changes a lot. The defense has got to choose. Do they want to stop 10 (Young) or do they want to stop 28 (Johnson)?" Johnson said. "That is what me and Vince say every day. Whichever one you choose to stop, the other one is going to have a good day."

Fullback Ahmard Hall, whose blocking has been a key to Johnson's success of late, says having two explosive athletes in the backfield in Johnson and Young gives the Titans the ability to run a formation other teams wouldn't dare touch.

"Guys are so worried about Vince taking off and running, when you get C.J. on that edge, it's over," Hall said. "When you've got two phenomenal athletes out there, you can get it done. But you usually don't have that."

And it gives opposing defensive coordinators something else to have to work on when they face the Titans. It worked to perfection on one pitch from Young to Johnson in the Titans' 41-17 romp over the Buffalo Bills.

"It will work if it ain't game planned. If it's not game planned, it's gonna work," linebacker Keith Bulluck said. "You might have someone for the edge, but then you don't have someone for the pitch. You saw they had someone for Vince, but they didn't have anyone for C.J. I'm sure defenses will look at that, see how effective it was for our offense and plan accordingly."

It gives the Titans just one more way to get the football into the hands of their best playmaker, Johnson. Not coincidentally, as Johnson's rushes have risen from 16 carries through the first six games to 25 carries in the past three, the Titans have turned things around with a three-game winning streak after an 0-6 start.

"Once you get the ball in his hand, he is going to make plays. All we have to do as the other 10 guys when we get the ball in his hands is make key blocks down field for him. We just take care of our responsibility and let C.J. be C.J. He is a very special player," Young said.

SERIES HISTORY: 16th regular-season meeting. Titans lead series 11-4. The Texans came to LP Field in Week 2 and stunned Tennessee, 34-31, as Matt Schaub passed for 357 yards, spoiling a 197-yard rushing day by Tennessee's Chris Johnson.